Page 10 - Headingtonian Magazine 2017

What encouraged you to start rowing at Headington?
When I started, almost everyone in my year had a go. I think I was quite good at it right from the start in terms of the technical side of things. I took to it quite naturally.
Obviously winning a silver medal at the Olympic Games and a gold medal at the European Championships is a phenomenal achievement; which one were you more proud of?
It has to be the Olympics, particularly for me because this is my third one, and the first
didn’t go to plan. It’s all about one day in 4 years. It has to be Rio; after 8 years of training, everything went right. In the Europeans, you’re missing the Americans, the Canadians and the Kiwis - 3 of the top 6. This didn’t mean it wasn’t fantastic - having your national anthem played is incredible - but it has to be the Olympics!
Do you feel that Headington has helped to your career as an athlete, and as a person?
I went to Headington on an academic scholarship and opportunities I received were above and beyond anything I would have had otherwise. For example, I wouldn’t have rowed. Headington was always really supportive of
me being whatever I wanted to be. I felt like they never put any limits on what I believed
I was capable of. I’m still really close to my best friends from Headington and they’re unconditionally supportive of everything I’ve done over the last few years.
Head Girl Hannah Anson and Katie Greves during Hannah’s interview
Should there be more integration
between Olympic and Paralympic sport? How much interaction do the two have
in the rowing world?
Rowing has a lot more integration than most sports. One of the paralympians we’ve got in the rowing squad won a gold medal in London and has ended up going into cycling. He’s on his third round of operations for a tumour in his spine and he’s one of the most inspirational people I’ve ever met. The determination he’s shown is extraordinary.
We’re so far ahead of much of the rest of the world in how we view disability sport and
the facilities we provide, which is fantastic,
but in a number of countries people are just not interested. That makes me really sad, and perhaps going forward there needs to be more thought put into selecting Olympic venues where the Paralympics will be better received.
What was the hardest challenge you faced during your rowing career?
One of the hardest patches of training was after London when I decided I wanted to qualify as a teacher. That meant trying to fit in teaching up to 5 days a week alongside trying to fulfil all of my training commitments.
Are there any skills you’ve learned in rowing that you’ve transferred into everyday life? Being tenacious. Just never giving up.
That’s one of my strongest attributes as an athlete and as a person.
Do you feel that coming from a girls’ school has influenced your perception of women’s rights in the sporting world?
Yes, definitely. I think that in a lot of ways we’re really lucky with rowing that it’s actually fairly even – the next Olympics will have 50/50 male and women seats. But you still come up against chauvinistic behaviour. It makes me really sad talking to some of the boys. In general, they’re very supportive, but they’ll make an offhand comment about women’s sport; clearly there are physical limits, but it doesn’t mean our rowing isn’t just as skilful.
THE HEADINGTONIAN 2017
NEVER GIVE UP
AN INTERVIEW WITH
KATIE GREVES
OLYMPIC SILVER MEDAL WINNER
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