Hattie Taylor graduated from Syracuse in 2017 and is currently set to race in the Great Britain W4- at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
1. What inspired you to go to your first rowing practice; was there anything memorable about it?
Sadly, I have no inspirational story about how I got into rowing; it was during my first year at secondary school, I’d just turned twelve, there was a rowing trial week during the Easter break, and my parents needed something to do to keep me entertained. I wasn’t much good at any other sports we’d done at school and I thought, because I was tall, that I might be alright at this one. I do remember there were about fifty girls that week, and then it drastically dropped to about fifteen when we had to sign up to do it properly.
2. Was there a practice, race or other event when you fell in love with the sport, or when you knew you might not be too bad at rowing? When you thought you could make the national team?
I’ve loved the sport since I started, but it was at my first Under 23 Championships in 2015 where I realized that the Senior Team and going to the Olympics was something I really wanted to achieve. The whole process of it - getting selected, getting the kit, getting to race for GB and then standing on the podium that year for the first time was so exciting and something that I wanted to do again and again.
3. Best race/practice, worst race/practice?
Some of my best races have not been ones where I’ve done particularly well. I’d say one of the races I’ve been most pleased with was at my first Senior Worlds in 2018, I was racing the pair with Rowan McKellar. We’d had a slightly up and down Championships, we won the heat, missed out on the A Final in the semi and then won the B Final. I always like to say we won two races out of three that week, (just the wrong ones!) That B Final sticks in my head because of how simple it was, I think because the pressure had been stripped away, we weren’t racing for medals anymore and we just executed our perfect race. We weren’t winning off the start but there was so much trust in our rhythm we were never worried about moving through. One of the coaches had told us before to try and put emotion into our race, but that race was just a job and ticking boxes and we went through the motions so much better with that mindset. Even though that makes the racing sound really robotic, I try to think about that when I’m racing now so I don’t get too overwhelmed with other feelings and emotions. Obviously it would have been great if that was in the A Final and not the B Final, but I’m glad I got the opportunity to learn that about racing.
The worst practice would have to be the opening erg test we did my Freshman year at 'Cuse. It was thirty minutes, varying rates, I wasn’t doing great, my knee was really sore and I stopped with about twelve minutes to go. Obviously I know I shouldn’t have stopped and could probably have finished it, but rightfully so I was punished for it and wasn’t allowed on the water. I’m still embarrassed about it. Even though that was my ‘worst’ practice, I learnt a lot from it so maybe there was a positive in it!
4. Best/Anything you've done in the sport no one knows about?
A few people know about this but I was rowing for Melbourne University Boat Club in my gap year in 2013, I was racing in a quad at the SIRR in Penrith and we won. Obviously we were delighted, picked up our medals and then got our boat weighed. Underweight. I don’t think the people at the weighing station knew what to do so we just handed them our medals there and then. Sometimes I forget that happened so I never tell anybody, but every time we weigh a boat at a race I am slightly panicked about it.
5. Any/Most important advice for young rowers?
Two things, ask for help and persevere. There is a huge wealth of knowledge around you in a team that would be silly not to tap into - I learnt so much from all of the experienced people around me who were always willing to help. You never know what might stick with you from a random conversation with a teammate or member of the coaching or support team.
The second would be to persevere, there are a lot of ups and downs in sport and most people on the outside don’t see the downs. Understand that every single athlete has their downs but the important part is how they deal with it. So persevere if you are not having your best month, if you stick it out and ask for help from the right people you’ll probably end up in a good place!
Hometown: Sunningdale, GBR
Club Affiliation: Leander Club
Date of Birth: February 14, 1994
Height: 6'0"
High School: Sir William Perkins'
Education: Syracuse University, 2017
Current Coaches: James Harris
National Teams: Five - Under 23 2015, 2016; Senior 2018, 2019; Olympic, 2020
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