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in it as trailblazers. She chooses the word carefully. It isn’t simply about collecting medals. It is about showing that women in their 60s and 70s belong in competitive sport and deserve to be taken seriously. “We’re still a work in


progress,” she says. “You never stop learning.” It is a philosophy she carries into every race. You cannot control the sea, the weather or even guarantee the perfect stroke. All you can do is keep rowing. Every spring, more than 100


traditional gigs converge on the Isles of Scilly for the sport’s ultimate test – the world championships. For gig rowers it is the event everyone dreams of competing in, with thousands lining the shore and support boats filling the sea lanes between the islands. Peta still remembers arriving


for the first time 20 years ago. “I thought, ‘Wow, I’m a part of this.’” She still feels nervous before every race. “I go very quiet. I focus on


everyone behind her takes their cue from the rhythm she sets. “You’ve got to stay calm. If you panic, everybody else panics.” As our conversation ends,


Peta looks out across the Dart, the river that has transformed the second half of her life. “I’m very lucky,” she says.


“I’ve got an amazing family, I live in an amazing place, I get


“I hope they can see I’m a


role model, not just an old granny - that I can put the effort in, still win and still enjoy it.”


what we’ve trained for. We’ve got the fitness, we’ve got the race plan, now we just have to believe.” Once the starting gun sounds,


the nerves disappear. “I actually feel calmer in a race than I do in training sometimes.” As stroke, her role is not only physical. When the sea becomes rough and the boat begins to pitch,


to compete in this amazing sport and I’m quite good at it.” She pauses for a moment. “I


suppose you make your own luck.” Perhaps she does. But another word seems just as fitting: grit. Te grit to keep turning up on dark winter mornings, to keep pulling when every muscle aches, and to refuse to let age define possibility. On the River Dart, where tide


and weather are always changing, one thing remains constant. When Peta takes her place in the stroke seat, behind her five oars fall into her rhythm and an entire crew pulls together.•


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