Misha Wilcockson - Great Britain Rowing Team

I rowed at St Paul's School, Barnes. When I was 17 I competed for my first time for the Great Britain rowing team, winning a bronze medal in the pair at the 2012 Coupe de la Jeunesse (european championship). In 2013, I was again selected for the junior team, winning Munich Junior International Regatta in the eight (photo attached) for the first time in over eight years - competing against the likes of Germany, Croatia and Switzerland. In the summer of 2013, I was again selected for the GB team to row at the World Rowing Junior Championships in Trakai, Lithuania (portrait photo attached). I competed in the coxed four, finishing 6th in the event.

After finishing school that year, I took a gap year, where I spent 6 months in Melbourne, Australia. For my first three months in Melbourne I trained twice a day every day with Matt Ryan, a member of the silver medal winning Australian 2008 Olympic four, and also a member of the Australian eight in London 2012. For my last three months there I trained at Banks Rowing Club, still twice a day every day, and competed in the quad and coxed four at the National Championships in March 2014. We won bronze in the quad and came 4th in the coxed four at these championships.

In 2014 I started at Stanford University in California. I managed to get a rowing scholarship with pays towards tuition, accommodation and food. At Stanford we train anywhere between 11 and 16 times a week. This gruelling training schedule (including waking up in the mornings at 5:30AM to go and train), combined with the highest level of academics, means all I do really is eat, sleep, work and row. In 2015, I stroked the Varsity eight to a bronze medal in the PAC-12 championships, losing out to Washington and the University of California Berkeley (who went on to come 1st and 2nd in the national championship also). Unfortunately I tore my right rhomboid muscle in my back just a week before we were set to leave for the national championship, so I was unable to compete. I have attached a photo of me rowing for Stanford.

Without the Hogarth Club, training during the off season (the month of August), would be made far more difficult. I would like to thank them from the bottom of my heart for all they have done for me - training at the club has allowed me to continue to develop as an elite athlete.