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Since its launch on 24th July 2020, Broken Oars Podcast has grown into the world’s best podcast about rowing, rowers and all things related to the art, practice and magic of moving a boat backwards down a river using an oar. Episode by episode, your genial hosts Dr. Lewin Hynes (the Southern One) and Dr. Aaron Jackson (the Northern One) have been joined for in-depth and revealing conversations with Olympic and world champions, elite coaches, world-leading sports scientists, journalists and commentators, and rowers from all backgrounds and walks of life - creating a treasure trove of insight, information, commentary and perspectives on the greatest sport ever invented. Enjoyed this episode? Buy us a coffee, download a training plan, and support us so we can carry on making Broken Oars Podcast, the best rowing podcast in the world. https://www.buymeacoffee.com/brokenoarsd. Thank You! Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/brokenoarspodc1 Follow us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/thelandingstage/ www.instagram.com/brokenoarsindoors/ Read more Broken Oars: www.thelandingstage.net
Episodes
Friday Apr 07, 2023
Friday Apr 07, 2023
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and quote " BROKENOARS " at the checkout page.
This discount code will allow you to buy the book at a 15% discount - and enjoy one of the great rowing stories!
Oars Podcast, and your genial hosts Lewin (Southern, oppressive) and Aaron (Northern, oppressed) return ...
... and you'll notice that we're practically fizzing with glee as we do.
Why?
Because we're joined by Peter Holmes.
We are no strangers to hyperbole on Broken Oars Podcast. Our episode blurbs are masterpieces in the art of all of its forms: hyperbole, repetitive hyperbole, deflationary hyperbole, inflationary hyperbole and (our favourite) the sort of hyperbole Han got out of the Millennium Falcon only done with oars.
(Give me ten on the legs and horizon this bunch of sadsacks, now ... ! is a call neither of us have ever used (much)).
But in this instance, we are somewhat underselling it when we say that Pete is one of rowing's great coaches, thinkers and communicators.
Beginning his rowing journey at Latymer, and continuing during his time at Cambridge, Pete's engagement with rowing developed in tandem and conversation with his younger brother, Andy - an individual who remains one of the undersung heroes of British Rowing despite being a double-Olympic champion, fierce and committed competitor and an outstanding oarsman who, among others, inspired the young Matthew Pinsent to take up the sport.
Applying the insights about boatmoving that Andy was learning, applying and developing while working with Spracklen and Redgrave as he moved on to teach and coach at Eton, St. Paul's, the University of Manchester and Agecroft, Pete developed a coaching ethos centered on empowering athletes to own and take control of their development and progression by understanding and embracing what actually moves a boat.
In this freewheeling, insightful and essential episode we discuss what actually moves a boat - pressure against the pin against the blade - and explore what the logical outcome of this means for the rowing stroke: it is the application of maximum pressure through the arc of the stroke from beginning to end that moves the boat the most efficiently.
Breaking down how we can translate that to the actual practise of rowing leads to a fascinating conversation on avoiding coaching mood music; the importance of avoiding fads and fashions; why the first step in any squad journey must be standardising equipment so that it can then be individualised to the rower later in the programme; the importance of knowing why you do the drills you do; why the search for magic bullets is part of human nature but ultimately unproductive ...
... and why the most important question a rower can ask is 'why' (because it leads to the understanding of 'how').
Some of this might be counter-intuitive to modern orthodoxies; it might challenge some preconceptions, but this a masterclass on a par with Drew Ginn's much-heralded episode on Broken Oars. Pete puts a lifetime of knowledge on the art and practice of moving a boat well in this podcast, coaching, what makes a rower, what makes a crew, training, and more beside ...
And he's currently not coaching?
Someone snap that man up for their programme!
Get some!
All Eight? Drive the legs like you're kicking a burning dog off you...
-----
Try listening to us with a coffee - and if you're feeling generous, stand us one.
Buy us a coffee: www.buymeacoffee.com/brokenoarsD?new=1
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Wednesday Apr 05, 2023
Wednesday Apr 05, 2023
Dear Listener, thank you for your attention to our podcast, which, unlike many and most activities on the internet is not free to make. Should you be enjoying the podcast and wish to help us make more episode please consider buying us a coffee or purchasing one of our digital downloads at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/brokenoarsd. Thank you again for listening.
Holmes and Watson have travelled to Cambridge to investigate the apparent suicide of a college student.
When they get there, however, they discover both a Priest's Hole and an abandoned button. Are they something or nothing?
A visit to the college boathouse leads to conversations with Mr Pitman and Mr. Muttlebury and it is discovered that Mr. Martin, the deceased, had just been told he had been selected for the final crew for the forthcoming boatrace, beating out a Lord Denby ...
Find out the final shocking truth in The Mystery of the Murdered Bow!
Get Some!
Tuesday Mar 28, 2023
Tuesday Mar 28, 2023
Dear Listener, thank you for your attention to our podcast, which, unlike many and most activities on the internet is not free to make. Should you be enjoying the podcast and wish to help us make more episode please consider buying us a coffee or purchasing one of our digital downloads at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/brokenoarsd. Thank you again for listening.
We return as the mystery deepens!
Holmes and Watson have been called from their chambers at 221b Baker Street by Inspector Lestrade to investigate the apparent suicide of a young gentleman at a Cambridge College.
On arriving, they find Mr. Martin, the deceased, in his chambers, slumped over his desk, dead from a single gunshot wound to the head. The door had to forced by Mr. Potter, the porter, and no-one else was found in the room with him at the time of his discovery.
Investigating the scene, Holmes finds a priest's hole, common enough in the older Cambridge colleges, and a button.
Are they something? Or are they nothing?
Further investigations lead Holmes to the college boathouse where he learns from Mr. Pitman, that young Mr. Martin had just been awarded his seat in the bows of the Cambridge crew for the Boat Race. Mr. Muttlebury goes on to explain the intricacies and appeal of rowing to Mr. Holmes ... and the vital importance of the bow oar in any boat.
As they walk back to Cambridge, Holmes mulls over what he has learned ...
... is it something, or is it nothing?
The mystery deepens ...
(In last weekend's men's race, the press / media liked the Parrish brothers having a father who rowed for Cambridge. Maybe turns out the more significant help was having a mother who had been a very good @ULBC cox ... ? Just saying ... ).
Friday Mar 24, 2023
Friday Mar 24, 2023
Welcome back our friends to the show that never ends, we're so glad you could attend, come inside, come inside ...
We're back, the original and best rowing podcast and this episode ...
We celebrate the magic of BUCS, the importance of knowing your responsibilities on and off the water and staying safe; why youth is not wasted on the young but why you only realise the aphorism is right once you aren't actually young anymore; why Alan Rickman's diaries are unreadable; why you should keep a diary and what you should put in it; when and where it is appropriate to use the N-word ...
... and then we get to why rowing an eight is harder than rowing a single (sorry, single scullers, we know you like to say you're the zenith of the art and craft, but ... you aren't); and then the big question:
When a rower should give up their dream, whether that is a Henley run, making the squad, or just getting out in a boat ... ?
(Did we here someone say ... NEVER!)
Did you miss us?
We missed you.
Accept no substitutes, we are the original and best ...
(... and support the podcast by buying us a coffee. We both drink it: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/brokenoarsD )
Bowside holding, strokeside blades ... we duel at dawn!
Get some!
Try listening to us with a coffee - and if you're feeling generous, stand us one.
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Thursday Mar 23, 2023
Thursday Mar 23, 2023
Dear Listener, thank you for your attention to our podcast, which, unlike many and most activities on the internet is not free to make. Should you be enjoying the podcast and wish to help us make more episode please consider buying us a coffee or purchasing one of our digital downloads at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/brokenoarsd. Thank you again for listening.
Welcome back to Part Four of the celebration of Head of the River and the Boat Race that is our exclusive all-new Sherlock Holmes adventure, the first and only one to feature that noblest and greatest of sports, rowing.
The Mystery of the Murdered Bow - Part Four.
Called from 221b Baker Street by Inspector Lestrade's urgent summons, Holmes and Watson have made their way by train to Cambridge.
A young man is dead.
Self-murder is suspected.
On arrival, the evidence initially suggests that the facts fit Lestrade's conclusion: Mr Martin was found alone in his room, with a single gunshot wound to the head. But there is no pistol. And as Holmes examines the room, he finds a priest's hole and single button.
Do they mean anything?
Lestrade thinks not, but Holmes is not sure. His investigation leads him to the college boathouse where a conversation with Mr. Pitman and Mr. Muttlebury, both rowers and crewmates of Mr. Martin, provides new information.
But is it relevant?
Get some!
Friday Mar 17, 2023
Friday Mar 17, 2023
Dear Listener, thank you for your attention to our podcast, which, unlike many and most activities on the internet is not free to make. Should you be enjoying the podcast and wish to help us make more episode please consider buying us a coffee or purchasing one of our digital downloads at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/brokenoarsd. Thank you again for listening.
In celebration of Head of the River and the upcoming Boat Race, the team at Broken Oars have put together a Boat Race special - an all-new Sherlock Holmes adventure:
We give you:
The Mystery of the Murdered Bow - Part Three
The year is 1886.
A young man has been found dead at King's College, Cambridge.
Self-murder is suspected.
Holmes and Watson have been called from 221b Baker Street by Inspector Lestrade.
When Holmes and Watson arrive, the evidence suggests that Lestrade's conclusion fits the facts.
But as Holmes begins to investigate, is there more to what otherwise appears to be an open-and-shut case?
Listen on to find out!
Long drive to HORR? Training tomorrow? Spectating tomorrow? We've got you covered!
Get some!
Saturday Mar 11, 2023
Saturday Mar 11, 2023
Dear Listener, thank you for your attention to our podcast, which, unlike many and most activities on the internet is not free to make. Should you be enjoying the podcast and wish to help us make more episode please consider buying us a coffee or purchasing one of our digital downloads at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/brokenoarsd. Thank you again for listening.
Broken Oars Podcast, the original and best podcast about the art, practice and people involved pushing a boat backwards down a river, returns with ...
'The Mystery of the Murdered Bow.'
A new Sherlock Holmes adventure written especially for and just in time for Head of the River and the Boat Race.
The year is 1886. All is well in 221b Baker Street. After a long winter, as February slips into March, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson are called to Cambridge by Inspector Lestrade one morning ...
The reason?
An apparent self-murder at one of the oldest and most venerable colleges of one of the world's oldest and most venerable universities ...
... but is all truly as it seems?
With new episodes building up all of the way to Boat Race Day, follow each twist and turn and find out ...
(No Coxswains were hurt in the making of this story. This might not be the case in real life).
Wednesday Nov 16, 2022
Wednesday Nov 16, 2022
Dear Listener, thank you for your attention to our podcast, which, unlike many and most activities on the internet is not free to make. Should you be enjoying the podcast and wish to help us make more episode please consider buying us a coffee or purchasing one of our digital downloads at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/brokenoarsd. Thank you again for listening.
'Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends, we're so glad you could attend, come inside, come inside ... '
A new branch of the Broken Oars tree, Broken Oars University was dreamed up over the summer as an occasional series for your two stalwarts to explore some things other than rowing ...
... 'What?' I hear you cry. 'There are no such other things!
Well, ordinarily we'd agree with you, but the Northern One is working through some projects at the moment that mean that the subject matter of this one is pretty close to hand and heart ... and the best way to learn anything is to try and teach it, because then you're forced to break it all down.
The Broken Oars University tag was inspired by so many of our friends on Twitter et al heading off to University - which is an expansive experience, not just in terms of the teaching and the course, but also the new perspectives and understandings it can bring.
We (he, Northern One) hopes that the Broken Oars University will be a similar experience, giving fresh perspectives on some things that perhaps you already know, but which might also be new to some. An occasional series, we'll introduce things we're working on or thinking about in our professional and other lives that might entertain, inform, tickle or make you throw things at the screen.
Sound like it might be fun ...
It might be.
So, to kick it off, Module One sees the Northern One exploring how stories work in an age where narratives no long end but instead roll into the next content output.
In his usual fashion, he will self-deprecate his expertise in this area to the point where you'll think 'who the hell is this person', but essentially this opening episodes touches on the following points:
- Expertise: what is it, why is it more defined by knowing what you don't know rather than what you do.
- Polymaths: what are they, why he isn't one, and neither is Stephen Fry.
- Narrative: why stories have a beginning, middle and end, and why it doesn't matter what order these elements come in.
- Why this isn't a discussion of the pathetic fallacy of individuals and their output.
- What Netflix buying up Roald Dahl's Intellectual Property means and why they've done it.
- The 'Exploring the x Universe' idea: why it's a nonsense and a fallacy.
- How the reality that stories have a beginning, middle and end is important for structure, motive drive, engagement, immersion and imagination.
- What happens if you disregard this and start endlessly colouring in the map.
- Tricks, licks and conceits - how and why they don't work if the narrative's motive force are lost, or the internal logic and consistency are lost.
- Why platforms need content, but content doesn't need platforms.
- Why we now live in the age of the never-ending story as a reaction to market mechanics. We're looking at you, MC universe / DC universe / Tolkien Universe / never-ending everything universe.
- How a never-ending story leads to audience disengagement, a fall off in quality, and diminishing returns in all senses.
- Why stories that have a beginning, middle and end (in whatever order) are more emotionally and intellectually satisfying and more culturally representative - and why, as I work through my projects, I'll be keeping this very much in mind.
And if you're thinking 'wtf!', don't worry. There'll be some rowing along soon.
Get some!
Try listening to us with a coffee - and if you're feeling generous, stand us one.
Buy us a coffee: www.buymeacoffee.com/brokenoarsD?new=1
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Saturday Nov 12, 2022
Saturday Nov 12, 2022
Why is Broken Oars Podcast the world's best rowing podcast (Crossy's Corner excepted ...)?
Because no other podcast can move from grumping to an analysis of the status statement piece that is the Skillrow to the emancipation of rowers in the South East of England to the Wombles to the Second World War and escapism for wounded minds with such grace, elan and diablerie.
And we would take the time to point out that whilst not exactly unbiased this is a genuine review, based on the posh Southern one paying to go to a gym that has a Skillrow, and giving it a thrash a couple or three times.
That's why.
Get some !
Monday Nov 07, 2022
Monday Nov 07, 2022
Dear Listener, thank you for your attention to our podcast, which, unlike many and most activities on the internet is not free to make. Should you be enjoying the podcast and wish to help us make more episode please consider buying us a coffee or purchasing one of our digital downloads at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/brokenoarsd. Thank you again for listening.
Probably best viewed on YouTube but...
The Posh Southern one heads out on a journey to examine the biggest winners and losers in the Indoor Rowing and Rowing channels on YT, on YT. Amongst theses luminaries are Cam Buchan , Scots Sculler Extraordinaire, Austin Hendrickson's Training Tall, Shane Farmer's Darkhorse Rowing, British Rowing's own criminally underinvested in Go Row Indoors videos, The Awesome Asensei, and the even more awesome RowAlong from John Steventon.
Cam Buchan - https://www.youtube.com/c/CameronBuchan
Training Tall - https://www.youtube.com/c/TrainingTall
Dark Horse Rowing - https://www.youtube.com/c/DarkHorseRo...
British Rowing - https://www.youtube.com/user/britishr...
asensei - https://www.youtube.com/c/asensei
RowAlong - https://www.youtube.com/c/RowAlongFre...
These are all good, the last two are awesome Oh and Ame in a Van, only has 175k subscribers. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMoX...
Its Isabel Paige, who spends a lot of time looking "Wistful" in the wilderness on a very hi def camera that has 3/4 million subs. https://www.youtube.com/user/pinsandn...
Friday Oct 28, 2022
Friday Oct 28, 2022
Your Northern correspondent returns with the third and final chapter (and last word on rowing technique and rowing well). What some are calling a work of timeless genius, others are calling how you move a boat and yet more are calling what happens when you let a Northerner on the mic without the calming presence of a Southern Overlord, this is the third instalment of the original two-part series.
Another writer might have titled it 'Concerning Rowing and Rowers ...' but Tolkien was never much cop on the water and had a crap 2k score, so let's only refer to Tollers when we have a question about Beowulf or Asterisk Realities in Philology.
So, never, then ...
This final episode kicks off with a mea culpa. Having played the cheerful and moronic Northern One to Pip's scientific genius, your correspondent has finally grown a set. No-one knows a set of what, but they're currently being biopsied and we're hoping for something edible. However, in Part Two, I said something to the effect that it doesn't matter what you do in a boat the most important thing is that you do it together.
Now, that episode was posted in summer, and I've been considering that statement since. And now I'm rowing back from it (see what I did there?) - because ...
It's just plain wrong.
Here's the thing: it doesn't matter how together you are if you're learning or reinforcing bad habits. That's point one. Point two is that after saying there is room in rowing for different stylistic approaches, I was wrong. There isn't. There's only one way to row a blade (and thus a boat) and that way is hard, skilfully and with reference to the actual physics and mechanics involved.
As I've been saying all along.
The point is that if that's the case, the technical approaches we take and language we use is all about getting us back to the point where we move the boat well.
And that's where this episode comes in. Rowing is a feel sport. We all know what it feels like to move a boat well, either for one stroke, or ten, or one hundred, or one outing, or race, or training block.
The technical calls and drills and language only exist to prompt us to make changes and develop the skills that get us consistently back to that feeling.
So, with that in mind, we go back to the importance of clarifying technical calls and drills to identify what they mean and what they are supposed to do rather than playing coaching and crew mood music.
Talking about the importance of precise language and understandings in a feel sport; we move onto boat physics; why talking to your boatman is vital (Hullo Duncan ...); set up; first principles; only changing one thing at a time; giving those changes time to work through; arcs and angles; and then we look at some of the fads and fashions that have come and gone in rowing ... and why mileage, ultimately, makes champions:
It isn't because it makes you fit enough to row well (although it helps). It's because mileage allows us to identify the feeling of moving the boat well, learn it, remember it, chase it, and become more and more efficient at doing it.
If you listen to these three episodes, and then do the work, you'll never, ever have to watch another Youtube video again promising to make you a better rower; and you'll be able to call bs when your coach is talking bollocks.
Always a win in our book ...
Get some!
Friday Oct 14, 2022
Friday Oct 14, 2022
Ladies and Gentleman,
When we're in the presence of greatness, we sometimes do one sentence introductions, like this:
Harry Brightmore - World Champion, GB Men's Eight.
And to be honest, we could leave it there and we'd be justified in doing so.
But we can't, and it isn't just because the Northern One who writes our episode descriptions has a tendency towards sesquipedalian logorrhea (Leave him alone! He's bought these words! He's going to use all of them!).
No, it's because after a difficult last cycle culminating in Tokyo and lots of people, not all of whom were qualified to do so, pointing fingers in all directions (and you'll notice that yes, we did some finger-wagging, but as athletes we came down heavily on the side of supporting and backing the people who actually put their bodies on the line rather than getting involved in managerial flame wars), British Rowing has bounced back in some style.
The entire squad basically used the recent World Champions in the same way rock stars use a sold out arena venue - as a stage and a chance to show off the performances they've been working on in private: The British athletes put in stellar displays across the board, capped by the GB Men's Eight storming to Gold.
Now, anyone who has ever rowed will tell you that an Eight is only as good as its Cox. Seriously, try getting eight strong-willed, opinionated driven individuals to get the boat off the rack together (let alone send them down the track like a scalded cheetah) with a drafted in bored junior who'd rather be elsewhere and then come back and tell us how long it took you to get on the water and how crap the outing was as a result.
As we continue to be allowed to make episodes, Lewin and I realise with every passing conversation how lucky we actually were at Agecroft - not just in terms of facilities, culture and oustanding coaches and rowers, but in terms of having Coxswains like Maddie, Lucy, Valerie and Liz as part of our crew. Their word was law, their calls were actioned without question (on the water), their outings were meticulous, so were they and we were and became better rowers and crews as a result.
Believe us: Thanks to them, we know that coxing is an art, and a science - just like moving a boat.
And great as they are, with Henley medals in sock drawers, Harry Brightmore is next generation and next level.
Now, we're always guilty of saying that our latest episode is the best thing we've ever done ... because usually it is.
However, this one is a must for any rower, coach, manager or individual who is really genuinely interested in maximising themselves and those around them. It's a truly fantastic deep dive, not only into Harry's evolution from promising young footballer to World Champion cox, but also the pressures and practices that drove and shaped that development.
We talk about how early disappointment was translated into inner drive; how that became passion when we found rowing; and then how a clear-eyed assessment of his own personal psychology and identity helped spur his development and coxing practice.
Lewin and I have occasionally cavilled about British Rowing's lack of transparency about certain things, but Harry takes us through the processes and paradigms that inform the life and work of a GB elite athlete - resulting in a frank, insightful and illuminating conversation that really is essential listening.
Get a pen. Take notes. We did.
(To follow Harry and GB's journey, catch up with him on:
www.britishrowing.org/athlete/harry-brightmore/ )
All Eight. Meet Harry.
Get Some!
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Friday Sep 30, 2022
Friday Sep 30, 2022
After the doom and gloom of the Doping in Rowing episode, Broken Oars Podcast returns with a spirit-lifting, life-affirming perfect episode and a spirit-lifting life-affirming guest to accompany the start of a new season - a time of new resolutions, new energy, and new adventures.
Tony Larkman is one of the best coaches currently working - as well as being a fierce competitor to boot. His training plans are legendary for delivering results; and his own history as a rower and coach, frankly, put Lewin and I in the shade.
We caught up with Tony while he was visiting his folks for a fascinating, in-depth chat. Delving into his start in rowing back in the good old days (pre-Jurgen), we talk about the importance of mentors and environment in our rowing journeys; old school training methods (pull - now pull harder); being within touching distance of the squad; balancing training and being young; winning and balancing life and goals.
Covering Tony's shift towards Indoor Rowing (and yes, we at Broken Oars think that if you indoor row you're just as much of a rower as anyone who gets on the water. We're in the twenty-first century here. Let's get with the programme lads and lasses ...), we get into the nuts and bolts of targeted training.
There are a lot of people offering training plans online and working as personal trainers - and without naming names (hullo 99.9% of instagram influencers!) there are a lot of shysters and BS artists out there.
Tony is one of the best in the business, with a track record of success with clients from the couch to the elite level as well as personally showing the proof in the pudding. It was fascinating and deeply informative to hear him break down how to use goals and targets to backwork a training plan; and then how to structure that training plan.
Highlighting the importance of using fitness tests to establish baselines before designing a programme that progressively builds, Tony was insightful in explaining how training in blocks builds over time to create successful gains and results. Breaking things down into building the base (using weights and training to build muscle and correct imbalances, establishing a strength base, looking at minutes rather than distances to put the foundations in) Tony explains the shift to pre-competition and increasing intensity. Talking about the vital importance of keeping it mentally and physically fresh and using cross-training, Tony explains why although you might be slower in tests following a periodised training plan early in the season, the science and progressive loading of this approach means you're more likely to hit your target in the event that matters - whether that's doing your first 5k Park Run; nailing a 2k PB; or making Henley.
Speaking as a Northern Monkey who thinks 'a little bit of slow, a little bit of fast, a little bit of throwing heavy stuff around = fitness' it was and eye-opening and insightful deep dive with a coach and competitor who truly knows their business.
Catch up with Tony here:
@tonylarkman
www.tonylarkman.com
All eight? Prepare for 16 weeks of pain ...
Get some!
Monday Sep 19, 2022
Monday Sep 19, 2022
Usually Broken Oars Podcast returns with a spring in its step and a song in its heart - we love doing this podcast, because we get to do what every rower everywhere does when they're in the company of another rower: talk about rowing, and rowers, and water, and boats, and training, and racing, and cake, and seals, and otters, and ... when we were at Agecroft ...
When we were in the war ...
Shut up, Granddad. Get hep to the new sounds going around, Daddio!
However, we're returning with somewhat grim looks as World Rowing has returned a positive drug test for an indoor rower called Christopher Bailey and sanctioned him to a ban.
This is in itself a major blow for our sport.
If you're an indoor rower you're just as much a rower as a water rower.
However, what made the blow doubly depressing is that Lewin got in touch with Christopher Bailey - and the long and the short of their conversation was that Christopher Bailey doesn't feel he did anything wrong as he wasn't using the PED's he tested positive for at the time that he failed the test.
Not that he didn't didn't use them.
That he wasn't using them at the time he was tested.
That Christopher Bailey was up front and honest about the fact that he used the PED's; and that he was upset that he has been labelled a drug cheat because HE WASN'T USING THEM AT THE TIME HE TESTED POSITIVE is significant.
It's significant because it highlights the chilling cultural difference between sports that take PED use for granted and accept it, like body building, power lifting and fitness influencing, which is Christopher Bailey's background ... and sports that say if you take PED's AT ANY POINT you are a drug user and drug cheat ... like, well, like every other sport really, but especially rowing.
So, in this episode, Lewin and I get deep into the weeds about Christopher Bailey's positive test. As well as talking about how to make an otter by taking a seal, some dog hair, and some Pritt Stick, we get into the science behind what Christopher Bailey took (Masterone); we talk through the effects of Masterone; what it's used for as a PED; and what it means in terms of performance - in body building, physique training, and endurance sports like rowing.
We discuss Christopher Bailey's position (I'm not a cheat, because I wasn't taking them at the time I was tested and competing) and tease out what it means for rowing if sportsmen and women from sporting cultures that accept, encourage, condone or support drug use, whether tacitly or explicitly cross over via the gateway of indoor rowing competitions to rowing itself - and what that means for a sport whose culture is explicitly and tacitly that 'we don't take PED's. Ever.'
We look at how the narcissism of the screen age fuels PED use; and how that has fuelled an the acceptance of PED use among influencers and related sports; before expressing our fears about how this acceptance can potentially cross over into all sports - and what that means for rowing, where the culture depends on acceptance and trust in the collective and the individual.
We can usually find the good in most things and generally there is very little that we can't make a quip about. But on this occasion, we definitively state that although we want people to come into rowing and stay in rowing, if you take PED's to make yourself fitter, faster, stronger, more muscular, or for other personal internal pyschological reasons ...
Find a different sport.
(And in case you think we've gone all serious, we also invent Anna Bolic, a steriod-addled fitness influencer who keeps crapping her liver out. It won't go in The Beano, so dear Viz, please get in touch. We've got ideas for storylines. We also talk about meeting things with a plum and the Battle of Richmond).
All eight? Don't get some!
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Friday Sep 09, 2022
Friday Sep 09, 2022
Broken Oars Podcast is, for all of the back-and-forth of Lewin and I about North and South, fundamentally apolitical.
You row, we row, we all row together.
We take and give ribs and jibes in good heart because we believe that the things that unite us as friends, and in a wider context, as people, as communities and as a country number far more than any differences we may have.
We believe in discussion, in compromise, in agreeing to disagree and that, overall, most people are fundamentally decent human beings who are doing the best they can in the circumstances.
'I was down by the river watching Dan and Tyne United's rowers out on the water when the church bells started tolling up the valley. Church bells in Britain only ring out of time when war has been declared or when a Monarch dies. So, when I heard them, I knew that the Queen had died in Balmoral.'
That is the first paragraph of something that I wrote for my girls when I got home on Thursday night to help them make sense of what will happen over the next few days and weeks. Below is the rest, and while I would never think to speak for Lewin, I think it probably stands for us at Broken Oars and might both help and be a palliative for Thursday's news.
'I am not, fundamentally, a Royalist. You both know that the reason that we have a King or Queen is because not too long ago, one person stabbed another to death on a muddy field and said ‘I am King now.’ Kings and Queens take and hold power at the point of a sword.
But that does not necessarily mean that I am anti-Monarchy. Britain's institutions have evolved over time to help four nations of some seventy-odd million individuals broadly manage to rub along together collectively. Although they have been quite deliberately attacked, challenged and undermined in my lifetime and yours, the Monarchy is part of those systems of checks and balances and compromises. Those system are by no means perfect, but they are as good as some and better than many.
The death of a member of the Royal Family in Britain is always accompanied by lots of flag-waving; and soundbites about ‘service’, ‘continuity’, Britain’s ‘glorious history’, ‘coming together’ as a nation and all of that jazz. Remember, Rudyard Kipling, an arch-patriot, said that wrapping oneself in the flag was the last bastion of a scoundrel. He called them 'jelly-bellied flag flappers' who knew nothing of the country or its people and who only waved the flag because they didn't know what it actually stood for. And he was right. Boris Johnson did it, and he was a liar; a cheat; a scrounger; and a bully.
Try and remember that the Queen was a person, and a Mum, and a wife, and a Grandma, and a Great-Grandma first. She was a human being who loved and was loved by her family and will be missed by them – in the same way that we loved and miss Uncle David and Great-Grandma Smith; or Berry and Dylan.
If you feel sad at her death, feel sad for those reasons.
People come and go in Britain but its institutions survive. The Monarchy will continue. Charles will now be King. Time will roll on.
But it is actually people who are important. People don’t remember if you were a King or Queen; or if you were rich or poor; or if you won a Gold medal or if you didn’t.
People remember if you lived a rich and full life; and if they enjoyed your company; and how you made them feel.
That’s what important.
Remember that.
I love you both.
Dad.'
Full crew? Easy Oars.