Rowing veteran recalls the day he discovered an Olympic superstar
If it wasn’t for Gordon Simpson, Katherine Grainger may never have become the country’s most decorated Olympian.
He first encouraged the top athlete and her sister to give rowing a try when they were teenagers in Milngavie.
“I put an oar in her hand and took her for her first row along the Clyde,” said Gordon, who lived next door to Katherine’s family at the time. But he admits he didn’t think he’d discovered a natural talent.
“Funnily enough, I thought her sister Sarah was the better rower. Katherine had no co-ordination. But she told me she liked it. Then she went to Edinburgh University and joined their rowing team.
“She wasn’t successful at first. Then she suddenly decided she would master the sport and she did. Everything she touched, she won.”
While Gordon never actively coached Katherine, he’s been a long-time supporter and says the Olympic champion still keeps in touch.
“She’s so nice and down-to-earth. Whenever we see her at events, she goes out of her way to say hello. The success never went to her head.”
He fondly recalls watching Katherine win her first Olympic gold medal in London.
“She got us tickets to watch her in the family and friends area. She made time to see us after she won the gold and even said to me, ‘I bet you never thought this would happen!’
“And, when she signed Colin’s copy of her autobiography, she wrote: ‘If you hadn’t been my neighbour and a rower, it might never have happened for me’.”
Gordon, 77, has been rowing all his life. He has been a member of the Clydesdale Amateur Rowing Club for 64 years and still rows with his veteran crew three times a week.
“Rowing is a strange sport. Once you start it’s in your blood. The guys I row with, I’ve been rowing with some of them my whole life, since I was 13. We forget our age. Rowing keeps us young.”
Gordon got into the sport when he was growing up in the Gorbals in Glasgow’s south side.
“I threw a stone off a bridge at some passing oarsmen and they didn’t take too kindly to it.
“They belted my ear and said I should take up coxing to keep me out of trouble.
“I had no idea what that was but gave it a go and thought this is for me. It’s almost like hovering across the water and the speed you go at gives you a real buzz.
“I still row with the Clydesdale Club all these years later.”
He’s desperate to see his grandson follow on the family tradition but he draws the line at rowing with his son Colin.
“The last time we rowed together was six years ago. We have clashing temperaments. Colin can’t get out of the coaching side of it, and I’m beyond coaching now.”