Tell us about yourself and your involvement in rowing

My name is Angharad Broughton and I’m currently on the women’s rowing team at the University of Washington. I was at the Welsh Rowing Start Centre for 3 years and during my time there I competed for Wales twice at HIR in 2017 and 2018. In 2019 I went to Junior Worlds in Japan in the quad and I was selected for the eight for the 2021 U23s World Championships.

How did you start rowing, what made you want to start?

I started rowing in 2016 when I went to an indoor rowing competition with my school, and I was approached by Welsh Rowing who thought I might have potential for rowing. I had never really thought about rowing as an option because I was busy with netball, but I wanted to try it. My school, Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf, and Welsh Rowing were very instrumental in my commitment to the sport and my success.

What do you enjoy about rowing?

One of my favourite things about rowing is the community that you develop within whatever team you are in because everyone has the same goal of getting faster and stronger everyday. I enjoy rowing because you are able to push yourself everyday and learn so much about yourself.

How has rowing impacted on your life?

Rowing has given me so many opportunities that I that I would’ve never had without it, such as going to the US for University and travelling. You meet so many people through rowing from across the country who you have so much in common with. Along with meeting so many new people, rowing has made me so much mentally and physically stronger and I feel like this is down to training with so many like-minded people that push you everyday.

Any advice to someone considering learning to row?

My advice is that you have to be patient with it, whether that’s not capsizing in the single or just waiting for improvements to happen. At the beginning you improve so quickly but the hard part is pushing through when you feel like you’re starting to plateau. One of the most important things is to enjoy it because you spend so much time doing it.