Not even chemotherapy can stop Paralympic cox Erin Kennedy winning European Rowing Championship gold

Erin Kennedy says she's always been resilient, but that's being tested now more then ever.

The British para rowing cox, who celebrated her 30th birthday earlier this month, was diagnosed with breast cancer in May.

Fast forward to the Munich 2022 European Rowing Championships and, in the midst of chemotherapy treatment, Kennedy coxed the British PR3 mixed coxed four team to victory by a massive 19.33 seconds on Sunday (14 August).

The crew of Frankie Allen, Giedre Rakauskaite, Ed Fuller and Ollie Stanhope are undefeated in over a decade.

Speaking to Olympics.com, Kennedy said, "Firstly, I would caveat that I my oncologist is just totally on board with this so don't worry. I'm not sort of running away from her and hiding it from her."

While the diagnosis came as a shock, Kennedy has been keen to stay level-headed.

"They don't they don't beat around the bush. It is straight in with the information and that was a lot to take in," Kennedy says.

"All of a sudden, there's words that you've heard of and you don't know what they mean. But I knew pretty much that I would be needing a kind of intervention, chemotherapy and some sort of surgery down the line and depending on the surgery, maybe some radiotherapy."

Only four percent of women in the UK are diagnosed with breast cancer under the age of 39 with Kennedy falling into this category.

While still processing the devastating news, Kennedy a Tokyo 2020 Paralympic champion, two-time world champion and European champion, became concerned about being able to keep doing the sport she loves.

"Genuinely, and I'm not even saying this to be dramatic, I was like, 'What about rowing because it's a fundamental part of my life?' It's not something that I would ever want to just walk away from. I wasn't just going to basically go home and sit and wallow."

Four days later, Kennedy was in Belgrade, Serbia and back in the boat to claim her first ever World Cup gold medal.

Kennedy says, "A handful of people knew: my team, some of the leadership group, a few of the staff members. But I just I just got on with my job. Basically, I don't think anyone would have known anything was up.

"It was amazing," She added, "It was actually such a great thing for me to do because it's what I do best. We went and we raced and I'd never won a World Cup before, and I was like, 'I'm not missing this. I'm winning my first World Cup tonight,' and so we did and we were like 0.3s off the world best time. It was so good."

The Munich regatta is the dream result for Kennedy who is now set to take a break from competing.

"I've had two rounds of chemotherapy so far. I'm getting off my flight on Tuesday into an oncology appointment and have bloods taken to have chemotherapy on the Thursday. So that will be my round three. And then at the end of the month I'll have round four.

"From that moment it will be every other week and then after that I'll have weekly treatment for 12 weeks.

"It's a sabbatical, it's not a stop. And, all being well, I'll be back for racing next spring and I'll fight anyone who says I won't."

Erin Kennedy's motivation to keep going

Kennedy was given an MBE for her services to rowing earlier this year so in some ways it's not surprising that, despite her diagnosis, she has been determined to keep training and competing.

As well as having a passion for the sport, the people around have served as an inspiration.

_"_People at the Paralympic team are all exceptional individuals," Kennedy explains. "And that's before they've even got on the water.

"The reality is they were born with that impairment or they've suffered an accident that led to their impairment. And so it's something they just accept and move with so actually, given what's happened to me in the last few months, it was a sort of a no-brainer that I was going to carry on and try because look who I'm training with all the time?"

She adds, "I'm surrounded by people who have just gone, 'Well that was a curve ball, I'm just going to carry on my life and and make the best of it.' They're an amazing group.

"Cancer is a team sport I think. I'm like a single sculler, I've got to do it and ultimately take the pain on my own. I've got to physically take the treatment and do it myself. But I'm not on my own.

"I'm supported by a huge group of people. From the oncologists to the team doctor here, to my coaches, to my team-mates, to my friends, my family, my husband. It's almost like doing a race and the entire crowd is behind you."

Kennedy oozes passion for her team, the sport and her role in the boat as a coxswain.

_"_I'm staring and I'm talking to them. So you are sort of like a jockey and a quarterback in American football.

"There's no getting away from the fact I am getting a free ride but I'm adding value in terms of I'm receiving all the data. So like a pit wall engineer talking to the person actually driving the car, I'm giving them a lot of feedback and data on what I'm seeing in front of me, and then I'm getting a lot of feel from the boat. So I'm giving them a lot of technical input into rowing better.

"I do a lot of psychology off water because ultimately I'm trying to get the best out of someone when they are in the biggest hole of their lives."

For the Briton, continuing to be with her team and train is also a way of coping.

"I could just stop and go through treatment but, actually, I'm someone who's always operated at sort of 120 percent capacity. And, believe it or not, me doing this is not overstretching myself because I've actually cut back in other places and actually it's good for me. It's good for my mental health, and it's good to have projects and targets and things to work towards."

She's also under no illusion that this situation is difficult for the people around her.

"I was really clear with the crew and the coaches - if my health is slowing down the project, then that's when I would step away," Kennedy says.

Talking matters: telling her story to raise awareness

Despite this being an incredibly difficult time on many levels, Kennedy does not want to shy away from talking about it.

Ever the team player, she wants to share her story so others will check themselves too.

But how does she manage to stay so upbeat and positive during what must be a harrowing experience?

She states, "I just don't want this to be a miserable time. I don't think it has to be and I didn't know what treatment would look like, but I also knew I wanted to be quite open about it.

"The reality is if people find a lump and they don't go and get it checked, it's because they're scared and, actually, if you can open up that process and open up the experience to others, then that takes away that fear.

"Actually, the overall thing is scary. The long term is scary, but the short term it's actually quite mundane. It's normal life with some hospital interventions, a couple of scans and things like that. Chemotherapy, thank goodness for me, so far hasn't been too bad."

While it is impossible to control what happens to us, Kennedy is proof that how we react is what counts.