Meet the first wheelchair user about to row the Boat Race course

Two years ago, Becky Coleman almost died. Since becoming a wheelchair user in her early teens after an accident, she had gained two university degrees, built up a successful career and become one of the world’s top wheelchair tennis players.

It was sepsis that nearly killed her. For weeks after leaving hospital, she was unable to speak fluently, read or perform basic everyday tasks such as crossing the road or composing an email.

All of which makes her latest challenge even more remarkable: next month she aims to become the first wheelchair user to row the full Boat Race course on the Thames. That means ploughing through four miles of tidal river using the power of her arms alone.

“And I only weigh 42 kg,” she adds with a laugh. “Everybody has been shocked by that because I’m not your typically big, muscly rower.”

“I’ve been told all my life of all the things I might not be able to do. But I’m ambitious. If there is a will to do something, I’ll just do it. If I decide I’m going to do something, I don’t hang around, I’ll make it happen.”

Coleman, 35, will be rowing in a coxed double scull with a volunteer who is non-disabled and a cox, who steers the boat.

She started using rowing machines in the gym just a year ago as part of her recovery from sepsis. By rowing the same famous stretch of the Thames two days before this year’s Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race, she hopes to “prove the concept” that rowing has great, untapped potential as an accessible sport for people of various levels of disability.

The goal is to attract enough wheelchair users to the sport so that in future an adaptive rowing boat race can take place in parallel with the traditional Boat Race, in the same way the Paralympics mirrors the Olympics.

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“That would be the dream,” she says. “We want to build up a squad, open it up to more classifications of disability and schedule regular fixtures.”

Coleman is spearheading the project with the support of Fulham Reach Boat Club (FRBC),which has just won three years of national lottery funding to teach about 50 people with disabilities to row this summer. The aim is to have about 150 such rowers out on the river by 2028, which would double the number of rowers with disabilities who are registered with British Rowing, the sport’s governing body. Nationally, there are thought to be about 80 at present.

“Becky is a superstar,” said Adam Freeman-Pask, chief executive of FRBC, who represented Team GB at the London 2012 Olympics.

“The challenge she is taking on is huge. No one has ever rowed the 6.8 km Boat Race course using only their arms before. She will be setting an impressive benchmark, especially given the health challenges she has faced.”

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Coleman, an HR executive from the Isle of Wight, travelled the world playing wheelchair tennis. She said: “If you’re a wheelchair user wanting to get involved in sport, you’re usually encouraged to go into basketball, tennis or rugby.”

But she was forced to switch sports after suffering a spinal injury which made it difficult to rotate. “I was desperate to find a new sport.”

With a few simple adaptations, she found that rowing provided the perfect solution. Instead of a sliding seat she uses a fixed carbon-fibre seat with Velcro straps.

“I think some wheelchair users might be nervous about [being on the water],” said Coleman, who said she hoped they would be reassured by additional safety measures.

“We’ve got a safety boat there. I’m a strong upper body swimmer but I do wear a lifejacket and I’ve also got two floats that go on the side of my boat to give it more stability. You have to be able to undo the Velcro straps in case the boat capsizes.”

The point is, she says, “the same piece of equipment can accommodate a full spectrum of disabilities. I want people to see that it’s possible.”

She is halfway towards raising her fundraising target of £1500 for the UK Sepsis Trust, and particularly wanted to thank the nurses on the UK Sepsis helpline whose support and advice helped her through the darkest days of a “long and challenging recovery”.

“It was exhausting, physically and cognitively. It took a long time to build myself back up.”

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Her parents — Bernie, who has retired from the aerospace industry, and Sue, who works for Macmillan Cancer Support — will be among those cheering her on from the riverbank at midday on April 2.

“At the moment, I’m tackling it like an athlete, thinking about training and fitness plans, but I think the emotion will hit me afterwards,” she said. “It will mark a huge personal milestone for me. I’m so grateful to my wonderful GP, the physios, my family, and the rowing club. I’ve had the support of a lot of people to make this happen.”

She hopes that others will be inspired.

“With tennis I’ve gone to some nice places, but nothing can beat being out on the water and having that connection to nature. I’ve had some beautiful moments, being out on the water with herons, or having Canadian geese land just in front of you, seeing the sun rise up over Hammersmith Bridge.

“As beautiful as tennis is, it can’t replicate that connection with nature. There is something special about rowing, about being out on the water, for your mental health as well as your physical health.

“Hopefully this will be the catalyst that shows people what is possible.”

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