The Pharmaceutical Journal Vol 267 No 7179 p904-936
22-29 December 2001

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Christmas miscellany summary

Will Lucy be cox at the Commonwealth games?

Third-year pharmacy student Lucy Thomas is in the squad for the Welsh ladies' rowing team for next year's Commonwealth Games which are to be held in Manchester.

Lucy has been rowing since she was 13 years old and quickly became a cox because her height is ideal for the role. She joined the university rowing club when she began her studies at the Welsh school of pharmacy. Through the club, she went to trials to join the Welsh rowing squad and has now been training with the team for two-and-a-half years.

The Welsh rowing team is between amateur and professional level, she explains. There is not sufficient funding to allow team members to take up their sport full-time, as is the case for the Great Britain team, but the Welsh team hopes to attract more funding to make it possible. Lucy herself has a bursary from the university to fund her training. "The university is very supportive of people doing sport," she says.

The amount of training involved varies throughout the year. "After Christmas, it really takes off and I will be training every weekend and early in the morning before lectures. This is often at 5.30 or 6am, which isn't too nice" she says.

How does this fit in with the student lifestyle? "It is a case of getting the right balance and organising my time well," says Lucy. "The only problem is that I do miss going out sometimes and having time for myself but you have to make those sacrifices during the season."

Looking towards next year's Commonwealth games, Lucy says that the squad had spent the past two years training for it and that she hopes they will win medals.

After that, has she set her sights on a place in the Olympic team? "The position of cox in the Great Britain team for the Olympic games is a difficult one to get, and it tends to depend on the rowers you cox getting in: if they do, then you do too," she says.

"If I get to a high enough level, I might take a year out and pursue rowing even more seriously," she said. "I'm not sure yet what I want to do in the long-term but will definitely do my preregistration year either in hospital or industry."

In five years' time Lucy sees herself working as a pharmacist. She does not think that there will be funding to support her in a professional rowing career, unless someone out there wants to sponsor her.