Emma Twigg: Olympic rower on her shift to coastal rowing, plans for the 2028 Olympic Games

Emma Twigg is on track for her sixth Olympic Games.  

She’s shifted her attention from flat water rowing to coastal rowing, which makes its debut at the 2028 LA Olympic Games. 

Last week saw her claim the women’s title at the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals in Turkey, setting her up for a shot at the 2028 Games. 

She told Piney her aim of starting in the sport was to reinvigorate and do something a bit different and challenging. 

“If it’s still me winning in LA, then I’d love to be there, and equally, if someone has surpassed me by that stage, then that would be a real win for the sport as well.”  

LISTEN ABOVE 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from Newstalk ZEDB.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Superhuman keiw rower Emma Twig is on track for US
sixth Olympic Games. She became a world champion in the
women's solo event at the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals
in Turkey last weekend.

Speaker 3 (00:27):
She's taking her chances with looking over USh Older to
manage where that Flala boy is.

Speaker 1 (00:33):
Well, they've only got.

Speaker 3 (00:34):
One athly left in this world.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Romsey spent finals, but what uply is enough to be
crown champion.

Speaker 3 (00:41):
Of the world.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
Having competed at the last five Olympic Games in flatwater rowing,
winning golden Tokyo and twenty twenty one and silver in
Paris in twenty twenty four, Emma Twig is on track
to represent US in coastal rowing in La twenty twenty eight,
with the event being included in the Games for the
very first time. Emma Twig is with US. Congratulations Emma

(01:05):
on your win in Turkey. Did you expect to become
a world champion this year?

Speaker 3 (01:11):
To be honest, I didn't. It's been a bit of
a rough year in and out of the boat. So
to come away with a world title was pretty unexpected,
but you know, you've got to take the winds when
they come your way.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
What were the challenges that you've faced in twenty twenty five.

Speaker 3 (01:27):
Oh, I've had all sorts of kind of illness and injury.
I had a bit of dingy fever after a little
bit of a holiday to Raratonga, and then not long
before leaving, I had a bit of a flexor issue.
So the old bod is literally an old bod hanging
on for dear life. And yeah, just it all seemed
to come together in Turkey.

Speaker 2 (01:45):
Yeah, well it seems to still be doing the job.
Tell us about the specifics of your event. How long's
the race? How is it structured?

Speaker 3 (01:54):
Yes, it's a really cool event. It's a new la,
new discipline, never been at the Olympics before. Basically World
rowing have decided that they need to get more eyes
on the sport and kind of diversify and make it
a bit more exciting. So beach sprint was kind of concocted,
I guess about three years ago. It's a bit like
the BMX or kind of T twenty of cricket. I've
shortened the race to turn five hundred meter race two

(02:16):
hudred and fifty meters out around a turning boy one
hundred and eighty degree turned back to the beach. You've
got to run down the beach, jump into a boat,
go through a slalom course, and then obviously navigate your
way back to the beach, jump out of the boat,
and run up and jump on a buzzer. So there's
a lot that can go wrong, but that makes it
really exciting. And it's essentially done in kind of like

(02:37):
an emphatheaist style stadium and you're sitting watching the entire
race unfold right in front of you, So it's pretty cool.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
So how long does each race take?

Speaker 3 (02:47):
So it's about a turn and a half to three
minute race, depending on you know, with how rough it
is in the conditions. One of the races is a
time trial format, so it's just slightly longer than the
straight head head sprint. So it's about a third of
what a normal rowing race would be.

Speaker 1 (03:04):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
And so it's it's spacey, as you say, it's a
hard out, sort of octane filled version of rowing. How
different is coastal rowing compared to rowing on flat water?

Speaker 3 (03:19):
Yeah, it's pretty drastically different in terms of the actual
the stroke that you're taking in the movement, it's very similar.
You're still in a rowing boat, but the boats are
completely different that a much bigger boat, much heavier. You
kind of show up at the regetter and you've got
to use what's in front of you, So you get
three minutes in between each race to figure out all
your settings. You've got people holding the boats for you

(03:40):
boat handers. Yeah, So it's just it's a completely different
set up in terms of what you're experiencing on the water,
and then obviously a different energy system because it's much
higher intensity for a short period. But the difference is
the thing that makes it similar to the seven minute
race and flat water is that you're backing up race
after race within ten minutes, so you're doing essentially three

(04:02):
races within kind of a twenty minute period. So you
still need a certain amount of endurance as well, and.

Speaker 2 (04:07):
Of course you're turning as well, which you don't do
on flat water. How important is turning at the boy?

Speaker 3 (04:13):
Yeah, the navigation is massive. You've got to do a
slalom out, so you've got to keep your eyes on
the boy, and obviously in a rowing boat, you're going backwards,
so that can be challenging, and then you've got to
turn around one hundred and eighty degrees at the top mark,
and a lot of that is, you know, forces that
we're not used to in a flat water boat. There's
a lot of push rather than pull because you're kind
of pulling against each arm. I guess you get round
around the boy and then you've got to line the

(04:35):
boy up and go the fastest around it that you can.
So it can make a massive difference. You can be
you know, a link down coming into the boy and
then come out of it a lenk up if you
get it right and someone gets it wrong.

Speaker 2 (04:45):
So just for clarity, are you both turning at the
same boy or are there two boys out there?

Speaker 3 (04:50):
So there's the courses at two lanes. It's head not
out racing. So there's three boys that line the course,
one being the top boy, the middle boys the slalom,
and then the start boy. And so you've got two
courses side by side. You're racing someone head to head.

Speaker 2 (05:04):
Are you sort of learning this as you go? How
are you picking up things every time you do this?

Speaker 3 (05:09):
Oh? Absolutely, Like a week before we raced in Turkey.
We've kind of been refining how to get into a
boat because there's a lot to it. You've got to
sprint down the beach, but slow down and then jump
in a boat and you've got a moving seat, and
there's just a lot going on. So we've been watching
what the rest of the world has been doing, and
we're a little bit of a disadvantage because the Europeans
get to race a bit more than we do, so

(05:29):
there's a lot of video analysis going on of what
our competitors are doing. And we essentially taught ourselves a
little bunny hot really before this regetter, so there's a
lot of low hanging fruit for.

Speaker 2 (05:40):
Us to still find rerilliant. So have you committed Emma
to LA twenty twenty eight.

Speaker 3 (05:48):
In a sense, I guess I have. I've committed to
keep obviously pushing the boundaries.

Speaker 2 (05:54):
My aim of.

Speaker 3 (05:55):
Starting in the sport was to kind of, I guess,
reinvigorate and do something a bit different and something that
was a bit challenging, and it's worked out well this year,
so I'll give it another go next year. But you know,
I just hope that more and more people will get
into the sport. I think it's got an amazing future
and if it's still me winning in LA then I'd
love to be there. And equally, if someone has surpassed

(06:16):
me by that stage, then that would be a real
win for the sport as well. So obviously I'm going
to try my absolute best, but yeah, we'll see. You know,
three years seems to be a long way away when
you're at my age, or.

Speaker 2 (06:27):
At any age, I would say, do you still get
a buzz from the grind of it all? You know
that because you can't just jump on the boat and
do it, You've still got a train and everything like that.
Do you still does that still invigorate you?

Speaker 3 (06:40):
Yeah? I think the amazing thing about this new venture
for me is that it's the same thing, but it's
completely different. So it's for me, you know, spending hours
and hours in a flat water boat like I have
done for the last twenty years wasn't really appealing, but
this is a different kind of energy system. I've been
able to do lots on the erg and on a
bike and in the gym and just be surrounded by
different people, and then adding the elements of the ocean

(07:02):
and being by the sea and figure boats it's just
it's really kind of I guess it's extended my career
in a way that I never thought would be possible,
and I'm loving it. So while I'm loving it, I'll
keep chipping away.

Speaker 2 (07:13):
How long is the actual sort of sprinting on the
sand but at each end of the race, Oh.

Speaker 3 (07:18):
Not very long. It's enough to get up to speed
and then have to slow down again, So it's probably
I think the limit they can have is about fifty meters.

Speaker 2 (07:26):
Got Yeah, thank you.

Speaker 3 (07:27):
I'm definitely not calling upon Zoe Hobbs for for any
kind of long distance sprinting, but yeah, a few pointers
wouldn't go astray.

Speaker 2 (07:36):
Amazing. Well, it's just awesome watching you become a world
champion in Turkey last weekend, Emma, and great to know
that it's something that at least you'll be giving a
bit of dedication to over the next little while to
see where it takes you. So are you going to
get a break over the summer or actually is summer
kind of in season for you? What will the next
few months hold?

Speaker 3 (07:54):
Yeah, well, we've actually got a five series of five
regattas new this year for beach sprints, and that kicks
off in a week or so. I won't be doing
the first one, but I hope to get to the rest.
And yeah, it's a balance of just having some time
with my son and now coming having been away for
a couple of weeks and enjoying the summer. But yeah,

(08:14):
now I guess we've got a goal of the next
World Chancellor in China, so it will be interesting outstanding.

Speaker 2 (08:19):
Well again, congratulations Emma, thank you for joining us, and
all the best for the next little while.

Speaker 3 (08:23):
Thanks so much.

Speaker 2 (08:24):
That's Emma Twig world champion and the women's solo event
at the World Rome Beach Sprint Finals and Turkey last weekend.
Yet it's a new and very exciting form of rowing
which will make its Olympic debut in Los Angeles and
twenty twenty eight. And well, by the sounds of it,
Emma Twig is very very keen to be our representative.
Interesting to hear I say though as well, and very

(08:45):
Emma twigged this. Look, if it's me, great, If it's not,
then that's great for the sport. It'll have to be
some fairly talented athlete who knocks Emma Twig off that perch.

Speaker 1 (08:55):
I would imagine for more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine.
Listen live to News Talk zed B weekends from midday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio