ROWING BACK THE YEARS
Glover set for first race since Olympic gold five years ago
SUPERMUM Helen Glover makes her comeback in a boat next week – with her heart set on a golden encore inTokyo.
The double Olympic champion has been named in the Great Britain squad for the European Rowing Championships regatta in Italy, where she will race in the women’s pair with Polly Swann.
It will be Glover’s first race since she brought home the bullion from Rio for Team GB five years ago with Heather Stanning.
The 34-year-old mother of three – who decided to make her competitive return after working out on a rowing machine to get fit after the birth of her twins – is now forging a new double act with Swann, an Olympic silver medallist in the women’s eight in Rio, and her return in Varese will strike another blow for working mums.
Glover told British Rowing’s website: “I’ve been back full-time for three months now and being selected for the Europeans is the first step on my mission to become the first woman in British Rowing history to make an Olympic team after having children.
“I’m finding the journey exciting and extremely challenging, but I hope I can return from Varese with some success stories to share with the children.”
The sporting landscape is by no means littered with mothers who have reached the pinnacle after childbirth.
Evonne Cawley and Kim Clijsters won tennis Majors as mothers 29 years apart, Paula Radcliffe took the tape in backto-back New York Marathon races after the delivery of her daughter, Isla, and Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill won World Championship gold and Olympic silver in the heptathlon after her son Reggie’s birth in 2014.
Glover’s place in the pantheon is already assured by her feats in London and Rio. To add a third Olympic gold would add further lustre to her legend.
British Rowing director of performance Brendan Purcell said: “It has been 20 months since we last competed at an international regatta and the whole squad cannot wait to get racing again.
“I’m incredibly proud of every single member of the GB rowing team. They have been working tirelessly over this period, maintaining fitness levels and working towards a time when we could safely compete again.”