A legend

I was saddened to read the obituary in today's Guardian of the legendary Penny Chuter. She was a person who inspired me in my late teens. She demonstrated that with passion and commitment it is possible to achieve (almost) anything.

I rowed competitively and successfully in the late 70s and early 80s in Chester, and briefly at the National Watersports Centre at Holme Pierrepont near Nottingham. It was at the latter when I was part of the wider GB Junior Squad where I was coached by Penny - and by Dan Topolski (another legend, who died in 2015). 

Penny never minced her words, but she was always fair. I learnt a huge amount about my physical and mental abilities under her tutelage. She was larger than life to me, and one of the most memorable people I have had the privilege to meet.

The photo is of the only memento that I still have from my rowing days. I won oodles of tankards, pennants, cups and the like, but this was my only medal. It is the bronze that I won at the 1979 National Junior Championships where I was stroke in an eight made up of other pupils from my school.

In those days my posh girls' school in Chester considered rowing 'unladylike' and refused to support any of us who wanted to pursue the sport. (Whacking  people on the head with a lacrosse stick, or bashing them round the ankles with a hockey stick was fine apparently.) 

Fortunately once they realised we were serious and pretty good, the coaches of the posh boys' school in the town were more than happy to help, and so the girls rowed out of the boys' boathouse on the River Dee. 

Our unexpected medal at the National Champs that year was the start of years of rowing success, and it was eventually recognised and supported by the school. 

This is but a snapshot of a small bit of my rowing 'career'. It was a massively important spell of my life and is something I've not thought about for years. Penny's obit has brought back some wonderful times to the front of my mind...