GB women’s rowing had started to unravel after the 1980 Olympic Games, and of the four boats that went to the 1982 World Championships, the only one to reach a final was single sculler Beryl Mitchell, who did extremely well to come fourth (she’d won the silver the previous year, of course) after sustaining a horrific head injury in a tobogganing accident.
But all was not total doom and gloom, as British women enjoyed their first wins (apart from coxing) at Henley Royal Regatta, although they wouldn’t get the opportunity to race there again for another 11 years.
Read all about it here >
Plus… Rowing biographies of three internationals
Rosie Mayglothling represented GB five times between 1975 and 1982, including at the 1980 Olympics, before going on to have a successful career as a coach and sport developer. Perhaps her greatest achievement, though, was realising that British women needed a major event to aim for in late June… an idea that turned into Henley Women’s Regatta.
Find out more about Rosie’s career in rowing here >
Jane Cross was one of a highly successful junior coxed four from Weybridge Ladies ARC which raced at the second FISA Junior Championships that included women’s events in 1979. She went to to row for the GB senior team at the 1980 Olympics, and at the next two World Championships. Her story includes wise advice on what to do when your international rowing career ends.
Find out more about Jane’s rowing career here >
Pauline Janson was the first woman who learned to row at Oxford University to represent GB in the sport. She very nearly didn’t make the team for the Moscow Olympics in 1980 when she contracted hepatitis on training camp, but a special weight training programme devised by chief coach Dan Topolski helped her get back the strength she needed.
Rowing Story 