Grainger is hoping for fitting end
IT IS almost fitting that Katherine Grainger should come full circle to close off a rowing career that will begin and end with a voyage into uncharted waters.
The Scot, who finally knelt at the altar of gold in London four years ago after four successive turns as a silver-clad bridesmaid, did not have to be here, of course. She could have ridden off into the sunset, her ambitions fully fulfilled, her legacy secure.
But she said: ‘That’s partly why I took time off after London. People assumed that would be the end of my career. And it was an obvious moment to step away. I took the time out partly to deal with that moment. It had been a long career until that point and it all culminated in that gold.’
That she came back after a realisation that there remained competitive juices unsqueezed. That for all the attractions in completing her Ph.D in homicide, polishing off an autobiography and taking up the role of Chancellor at Oxford Brookes University, her hands were idle without this devilish work.
‘I remember meeting up with my coach for a coffee and genuinely thinking it was the first time since we’d worked together — probably 10 years at least — that we’d be able to sit down and not talk about rowing,’ she recounted. ‘Just two grown-ups, chatting about life. It lasted about two minutes before he said: “OK, I’ve been planning for Rio”.’
But while the decision to return was simple, the journey to Brazil has been anything but. Results way below her high standard saw Grainger threatened with exclusion by selectors before she was picked along with crew mate Vicky Thornley.
The Scot hints that the process was smothered in fog.
‘I’ll be the first to admit it’s been a lot more challenging than I expected — in ways I didn’t predict,’ she confirmed. ‘Especially with everything that’s happened over the last 12 months.’
If it was plain sailing with the now-retired Anna Watkins during the long victorious streak the pairing took into the last Games, then this time around there have been choppy waters to negotiate. They will enter the Lagoa Stadium with only hope rather than expectation. But without a single shred of regret.
‘That’s why the hunger and excitement is still there,’ Grainger noted. ‘It’s easier of course to have it close to the Games. But it’s much harder in the dead of winter and on the cold dark days when you think: “Did I really think this was a good idea?’ But right now, it certainly feels right”.’
It feels also like closure. That she will be able to walk away on her own terms without pondering what might have been.
‘But the one thing you miss when you step away from a sport is that single-minded focus to go for a huge achievement in one area,’ declared Grainger. ‘The flip side is you never get to try anything else in life. I’m really looking forward to doing things that interest me.
‘I can look around. I did law for a long time and that was supposed to be the job I went into.
‘I didn’t think I’d still not have managed it 20 years on. But there are areas I’d like to peer into and see if that’s my next big thing.’