British rower Helen Glover enjoys solace in nature with wildlife presenter husband and three 'bear cubs'
Waterways are the office space and haven for the family of five, with two-time Olympic champion mum aiming for a Paris 2024 quota spot at the 2023 World Rowing Championships, and a fourth Olympic Games.
"If it's not three young children watching me wee, then it's a stranger from drug testing," posted British rower Helen Glover to a plethora of amusing responses from her followers.
"To answer some of the questions I’ve been asked...," responded the two-time Olympic champion who is competing at the World Rowing Championships taking place in Belgrade from 3-10 September:
"- yes, the testers have to watch, with a clear view from torso to knees 🫣
- if you can’t wee you just have to wait. It could be hours but you’re not allowed to leave the drugs testers sight 👀
- no, the testers don’t ask as many questions during it as toddlers ❓
- I don’t get “3 cheers for weeing” that my twins give me, which is a shame 🤷♀️"
One of those responding to the post was the drug testers themselves.
"Do we not sing “3 cheers for weeing”? 😁. Perhaps we should," posted UK Anti-Doping.
Such is the life of Glover who is aiming for her fourth Olympic Games, starting with trying to obtain a quota spot for Team GB for Paris 2024 at this week's Rowing World Championships in Serbia.
A gold medallist in the women's coxless pair at her home Games at London 2012 alongside Heather Stanning, the duo achieved top spot again at Rio 2016.
The 37-year-old is aiming for a better finish than the fourth place at Tokyo 2020, in 2021, achieved alongside Polly Swann, presuming the pair qualify a boat for GB that is, with team selections ultimately down to each National Olympic Committee.
Nevertheless, the fourth-place finish was sensational considering the mother of three had only officially returned to training six months earlier, in January 2021, with a toddler and two one-year-olds in tow.
Two months after that, in April 2021, Glover was European champion – for the fourth time – alongside Swann, who herself had not raced for two years.
So, despite the disappointment about just missing out on an Olympic medal in Japan, Glover had a sense of perspective about the race: "The reward is knowing that we crossed the line giving it our all. The frustration would have been coming away thinking we had more, and we didn't."
Besides, Glover's lifestyle had changed considerably since Rio 2016.
Wildest dreams for rower Helen Glover
Glover met her future husband, wildlife presenter and naturalist, Steve Backshall, in 2014 at a sport charity event at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park – the heart of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Inevitably, the pair share a joy in communing with nature with Glover spending hour upon hour training or competing in stunning rivers and lakes around the world.
Backshall, meanwhile, engages viewers with his enthusiastic presenting style while exploring the most remote parts of the world including the first descent of the Chamkhar Chhu river in Bhutan, and an ascent of Jebel Samnhan in Oman, the first exploration of a desert canyon.
These two are as far as you can get from being couch potatoes.
By 2016, and one month after Glover had won her second Olympic gold medal, the pair were married in a cliff-top ceremony in the bride's beloved nature-rich coastal home county of Cornwall.
Four years later and the duo had three children. Logan, born in 2018, and twins Bo and Kit, in January 2020.
Life was full on.
Row, row, row your boat...
After putting the twins down for a nap during the COVID-19 lockdown, Glover took to the static rowing machine for a moment of solace, more for mental wellbeing than physical. The numbers were so bad they made her smile, but she felt better for it.
So she continued.
As her physical fitness improved, Glover floated the idea of trying to get back on the team for Tokyo with her husband, who was supportive of the loose idea. The pair decided to look at it as "a nice little daydream, a nice little fantasy", Glover said in an interview, rather than a full-on comeback, and wanted to see where it took them.
Then came the moment when those numbers turned high level and they both knew a tilt at selection for a third Olympic Games was on.
An official announcement of a return to training and a bid to make the GB team for Tokyo 2020 came in January 2021.
The European Championship win was representative of a very different route this time for Glover, not only in juggling family life but also the impact of the global pandemic.
A year after winning the title, Glover reflected: "Breastfeeding twins while away for a weekend, racing real people after training in the living room for not quite a year, and presenting the medals to each other due to covid regulations!! An unreal experience for many reasons. One I’m always proud of @pollyswanngb."
Mother nature Helen Glover
Now, as a bid for Paris 2024 continues, one thing remains a constant thread throughout the juggle of family life – an immersion in nature.
Living in a house on the Thames river in the Berkshire countryside, morning plunges, family kayak outings spotting water voles, additional rowing training, yoga on the decking – a vital part of this family's life is by the water.
Seal spotting from paddle boards in Cornwall, sailing holidays in Greece, kayaking and picnicking in the Scilly Isles – all are conducive to this family's wellbeing both at work and play.
Besides, posted Glover, another Games-time period could even prove a little less stressful than previously: "Keeping three toddlers on scooters out of the lake was potentially more stressful the Olympic final".
So as Glover heads to her first World Championships since 2015 she'll have additional support crew than before, put best by a post on her Instagram account following the announcement she'd made the GB team:
"We’re so proud of you. The bear cubs will be screaming at the top of their lungs."