Going for gold this time

The Henley Regatta was first held in 1839 and has been held annually ever since. It has become a British institution. The 2008 Regatta takes place 2-6 July. For Debbie Flood the regatta is a favourite event. To start with, she lives in Henley and is a member of the Leander Club which runs the event. Her dog Charlie thinks he is a member of the club – don’t mention the time he helpfully gathered up all the rowers’ shoes and put them in a neat pile some distance away! However, Debbie may not be able to compete there this year if it clashes with Olympic preparation.

Debbie started rowing by accident! ‘I was always sporty and used to do a lot of running. I started doing judo and got into the junior judo squad when I was 16. I was still doing a lot of running, often with my dad. When he injured his knee and couldn’t run, someone suggested that I use the rowing machine in the gym to keep up my fitness. Then one day someone said, “you’re doing good times why don’t you give rowing a try”. But I was living in Yorkshire where rowing is not strong. I went to London on two sculling courses and found them fun and the people very friendly. So I changed from judo to rowing.’ In just over a year she was winning the junior trials and even got a bronze at the Junior World Championships.

Brought up in a Christian family Debbie has always gone to church. ‘I did not make a commitment for myself until I was in the youth group at Guiseley Baptist Church when I was about 17. The youth leader explained that to become a Christian I needed to pray a prayer asking God for forgiveness, so I went home and did that. Ever since then I have grown in my faith and was baptized in 2001.’ The highlight of her career came in Athens 2004 when the GB Quad sculls took an Olympic silver.

Beforehand there was a lot of pressure: ‘I had been rowing for seven years to get to the Olympics and this put a lot more pressure on me, particularly as there would not be another one for 4 years. It is a little bizarre to think of training so much, effectively for one race.’

In the final the Germans got away in the second quarter of the race and GB seemed in trouble. Britain gradually pegged back the others and moved into second place and were chasing the Germans down by the second half of the race. It had been a really good race and GB put everything into it but in the end didn’t quite catch the Germans. It was silver.
The British Quad sculls team won the 2006 World Championships after the event – the Russians who finished first failed a drugs test. In 2007 they retained the world title without controversy.

For Debbie, rowing is as much part of God’s plan for her life as church. ‘God is interested in every single person and in everything we do. I really believe that God has put me in rowing to be a witness for him. There are not many Christians in rowing. If there are no Christians in the rowing team, how are the others going to find out about God? God has given me the gift of being able to row and I want to use that ability as best I can.

‘Being involved in rowing at national level takes up so much time. The busyness of life, training etc. At least now I am fulltime – up to last summer I was a full-time university student as well. It takes a real discipline to set aside time for God to take time to say thank you and to grow in the relationship with God. I want God to be the centre of my life so it is important to make that time.’

Whether Henley 2008 makes it into her schedule or not this year depends on training schedules. Everything is geared to Beijing where Debbie will be an important member of the team which is seeking to continue Britain’s medal winning record.