When I joined Rowing Ireland in June 2024, just weeks before the Paris Olympic Games, I stepped into a sport I wrote about every day but had never personally experienced.
My role meant writing about athletes, races, training camps, and performances at the highest level. I quickly learned the language of rowing, splits, selections, crews, and competition schedules, but there was one thing missing. I had never sat in a boat.
At some point, it began to feel important to understand rowing not just professionally, but personally. If I was going to tell the stories of the sport, I felt I should experience it from the inside. So in September 2025, I joined Lee Rowing Club on the Marina in Cork, a club with deep roots in the city’s rowing community, as a complete beginner.
I arrived knowing nothing. No technique, no rhythm, no instinct for balance, and plenty of uncertainty about whether I would fit into an established group. Like many adults starting a new sport, I assumed everyone else would already know what they were doing and that I would spend most sessions trying not to slow things down.
Instead, I was welcomed into a group of Masters women whose openness immediately changed those expectations. They were experienced rowers, some with years in the sport, others returning after time away, and a few who had themselves once been beginners. The group is coached by Susan Dunlea and Barry Crowley, whose calm guidance and encouragement helped make the learning process feel welcoming from the start. From the first session, they created an environment where learning felt normal and mistakes felt safe.
Lee RC Women’s Masters celebrating together at the Rowing Ireland Annual Awards, proudly pictured with Masters Female Rower of the Year 2025, Sally Cudmore.
Every question was answered patiently, often more than once. Boats were adjusted without fuss. Calls and terminology were explained again and again. Sessions adapted quietly so learning could happen without ever making a newcomer feel like a burden.
Progress came in small moments. A better stroke. A steadier boat. A piece where timing finally clicked. These moments were noticed and celebrated, often by others before I recognised them myself.
What stood out most was not just the coaching or instruction, but the generosity of time. These women shared their experience freely, creating space for new members, whether they were returning to sport after years away or stepping into rowing for the very first time.
Training sessions also take place alongside the Masters men, and at times we share the water or row together. Watching experienced crews move well and learning through observation builds confidence in ways structured learning alone cannot. Being part of a shared training environment reinforces that everyone is working towards the same goal, improving stroke by stroke.
Lee RC Women’s Masters putting in the work indoors on the erg, guided by their coaches as they build strength, consistency and confidence together.
Over time, something shifts. You realise everyone is simply doing the same work.
The same early mornings.
The same weather conditions.
The same effort to improve, stroke by stroke.
Being part of a shared training environment removes the feeling of difference between beginner and experienced athletes, or between women’s and men’s crews. Instead, there is a shared commitment to showing up and improving together.
Confidence grows quietly in that space.
This year’s Women in Sport Week theme, Same Energy, perfectly reflects what I have experienced since joining the club. The energy that keeps women in sport is not only about competition or performance. It comes from encouragement, inclusion, and environments where participation is valued at every level.
The Masters women who welcomed me did more than teach rowing technique. They showed how sport can remain open and accessible at any stage of life. Their patience, humour, and willingness to share knowledge created a culture where beginners are not outsiders, but future teammates.
I am still learning. There are plenty of sessions where I feel like a beginner all over again, and many skills still to master. What has changed, however, is the feeling of belonging, of being part of a crew and a community connected by shared effort.
Starting something new as an adult can feel daunting. You worry about being the slowest, the least experienced, the one who gets it wrong. The truth is, you probably will get things wrong, and that is exactly how you learn. If you are thinking about trying a new sport or skill, no matter the age, take the first step anyway. Be willing to make mistakes, laugh at them, and show up again the next day ready to learn a little more. Sport does not ask for perfection, only participation.
This Women in Sport Week is a reminder that confidence does not come before you start; it comes because you start. The women who welcomed me into the boat showed that the real power of sport lies in sharing experience, lifting others, and giving the same energy to the next person beginning their journey. Sometimes all it takes is someone making space beside them and saying, “You’re coming with us.”
Because in sport, confidence isn’t something you arrive with; it’s something you build, stroke by stroke, together.
