Between the Buoys
Becky Wilde and Eve Stewart are Olympic, World, and European medallists. On Between the Buoys, they take you along for the highs and lows of life as a full-time athlete.
Between the Buoys
Heidi Long, Boat Race WINNER | Episode 8
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This week, Becky Wilde and Eve Stewart welcome their first guest to the show. What way to kick off the guest appearances, it's Olympic bronze medallist and 2026 Boat Race WINNER, Heidi Long!
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Eve Stewart, loads of experience. Rebecca Wilde winning the Princess Grace Challenge Cup. Um tip of the hat in the direction of Eve Stewart. Becky Wilde! They're rolling very well that they're a part of this race. Hello and welcome back. This week on Between the Boys, we'll be talking to Heidi Long, world champion, Olympic bronze medalist, and now boat race winner. I'm Becky Wilde. And I'm Eve Stewart, and we're both Olympic, World and European medalists for Team G V.
SPEAKER_01And this is our podcast about what actually goes on in our lives as G V rowers. We can't tell you everything, but we can tell you a lot. Thank you, of course, to our sponsor, Rocket Coaching, for making this episode possible.
SPEAKER_02Now sit back, enjoy, and grab a coffee.
SPEAKER_01Today we have Heidi Long, boat race winner, with us as our first guest on Between the Boys.
SPEAKER_02Heidi, welcome. Well, thank you for having me, guys. Yeah, first guest ever actually on the board. So that's exciting. And we thought, who better to invite than the one and only Heidi?
SPEAKER_00Oh, I feel honoured.
SPEAKER_01So we're sat on the balcony um at Caversham. Trials Week is upon us, but we're gonna reflect on last weekend and how Oxford turned the tide and put an end to nine years of dominance. And that boat was stroked by the one and only Heidi Long. Um so we just thought we'd chat a little bit about last weekend and a bit more about Heidi's journey. Exactly.
SPEAKER_02And before we get into that, we thought what better way to warm up by doing a quick round of quick fire questions. So to start with, Heidi, 2k, 5k, or 30 minute in ranking order, please.
SPEAKER_00Wow, this is the hardest question ever, because probably none of them. Uh 30 minute and then 5k and then 2k.
SPEAKER_01Sorry, 30 minute is your favourite? Yeah. Oh, we also didn't.
SPEAKER_00I think I said the same. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Okay, okay, yeah, fair enough, no judgment. Favourite venue?
SPEAKER_00The tideway championship course, you know.
SPEAKER_02There's no other answer I can have right now. Alright, favourite erg song.
SPEAKER_00Erg song. Um I mean anything that's got a good beat to it, Fred again or something like that. Don't need that many words, but a good beat and good rhythm.
SPEAKER_01Um favourite snack?
SPEAKER_00Squares bar. Oh yeah. Chocolate or regular chocolate uh oh, chocolate for everything else, but squares bar, like the marshmallow one. Okay. Raste breakfast, oats, toast, or eggs. Not eggs on race day. Probably toast for first breakfast, and then oats for second, maybe.
SPEAKER_01Sculling or sweeping?
SPEAKER_02Sweeping, sweeping, definitely. I agree. And then long UT ones or hit sessions.
SPEAKER_00Guys, these are really hard choices to make. Um, I mean, I think I have a mental breakdown every time I do a hit ergo, so I'm gonna have to say long UT too.
SPEAKER_01And Oxford or Virginia? Oxford.
SPEAKER_00Oh I heard it here first.
SPEAKER_01I thought I should take that. I'd take longer to answer that.
SPEAKER_00No, I mean my heart is dark blue right now. You know, this is it has been the best few years, so but yeah, I'll always be a who, so it's been pretty great to be both. I guess it works that Virginia has dark blue in their colours.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's true. Okay, so we obviously gave you a brief introduction just now. You are a boat race winner, you're part of the crew that turned the tide for Oxford for the first time in nine years. Is that right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, eight boat races. The last time Oxford won was it back in 2016 on the women's side. The men won in 2022, but um, yeah, the women haven't won a boat race for Oxford since 2016.
SPEAKER_01So I don't know about you, I don't know when you started rowing, but I wasn't rowing in 2016, so that's how long we've had a whole career since then.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I mean, the the first time that the women raced on the championship course was in 2015. So that's crazy. Uh Oxford have only been triumphant for two years out of those last 10 years. So yeah, no, it was a pretty epic day on Saturday to turn the tide dark blue again for the women's side.
SPEAKER_02So good. And for anyone listening who doesn't know what the boat race in, I would suggest you go onto YouTube and type in Turning the Tide, which is an amazing documentary that uh Benedict Huffnell and Tom Ramsey put together about the boat race, which has been going on. When was the first one, Heidi? The first one was 198 years ago. Wow.
SPEAKER_00Um, and then the first women's race was 99 years ago, so we're coming up to the centenary next year, which is really exciting. So it's one of Britain's longest sporting events um, like not even rowing included. So I think that is such a tradition in our sporting calendar, and so to being part of that is really so cool, and I also think just as a rower, like I mean, we don't get much time in the media, really.
SPEAKER_02And to see, I mean, the the tideaway was just lined with people on both sides, like it's amazing. If you don't have a picture of what it's like, genuinely go look it up, have a look because it's it's it's a great sort of spectacle in the world of rowing, which doesn't happen a lot, so it's pretty special.
SPEAKER_01It does seem like the most incredible event to be the part a part of, but it looked like so much fun, yeah, but also just like an iconic British sporting event as well. And to be part of that must have been amazing.
SPEAKER_00It's so fun. I mean the atmosphere on Tideway morning, on like boat race day morning, is like I've said it before, but it really is electric. Like we come down for our pre-paddle and it's quite quiet, but you've got all of the people setting everything up, so they're building little podiums and coffee stands, and the music starting to play in some of the pubs. Um, and after we row, we go inside and kind of chill out and try and calm ourselves down for a bit. And then the next time we come out is for the minibus um entrance and the coin toss, and you just slowly there's more and more people arriving. Um, the volume starts building, the chatter presenters and commentators come out and start to talk as well. So, yeah, it slowly builds, but I mean, one of my standout memories from both boat races is like we come together behind the boat race doors as a crew um before we go on the water and kind of have our huddle, share some last remarks, give each other a big hug, and like you can start to feel the real energy inside you, and then you get a 10 literally 10-second countdown, and the boat bay doors lift, and you walk out until this wall of people, and you just are like wow, so many people have come to watch rowing. Hopefully, more of them will get involved after watching this, like the noise and the energy to support these crews. I it's just yeah, it's such a privilege. It actually gives it makes you a bit teary-eyed, like I don't know, you can just feel the um emotion and especially this year. Like, I felt so proud and excited to be walking out with my crew, like we have worked so hard all year, and to be able to like step out, like you're all linked by holding that boat together when you walk out, you know, and it just is really powerful to walk out with the people that you've been working with. You're in the same kit, and you're just absolutely ready to go, and like excited to see what we can produce on the water. We I mean, same with anything in rowing, you prepare so hard in the lead up to it. But I we tried to turn over every single stone to to get this win, and I just felt ready. Like, I woke up that morning, and then when we walked out, I was like, Okay, we're ready for this. Like, let's get on the water and start a warm-up and keep moving together because yeah, something special is gonna happen.
SPEAKER_02So cool.
SPEAKER_01I would just like to rewind a few years, and obviously, you decided to go, well, you applied to go to Oxford, and yeah, I remember you applying. Yeah, um, and well, it seemed very much the case on Saturday that you were leading this project, and you're saying now like you're bleeding dark blue. What initially um motivated you to go to Oxford and be a part of not just the boat race, but I guess like the institution as a whole?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, uh I actually first applied when I was an undergraduate through UCAS and I kind of didn't know if I really wanted to go and was also looking at the states. Um, but I went for my interview, and you stay in one of the colleges. This is pre-COVID time, so you get invited into a college and you do your interview in person, you stay there for a couple of days. And I actually just fell in love with it then. I was like the history and the buildings and the people, you just were having amazing conversations, you could learn so much, and you just felt like you were almost in a movie, you know. Like it was like, how is this like a reality that we get to have a little part in? Um, and that was, I mean, how was like 12 years ago now, and so a lot has changed, but that core the core values of what the University of Oxford stands for, which is about pushing academic excellence and sporting excellence, and just trying to create people that are ready to go out and and do great things and just spend that time learning and integrating together. I think that's one of the things that I have loved about it. Um, and then being part of it for the last two years, I just feel like I've got to live and breathe that and and share it with all the other people. Like they're everyone is so hardworking and ambitious, and it's the same with lots of the rowers here, but people are doing all sorts of different degrees, so you can find out so many different things. Um, yeah, it's a special place, and I each day I get to cycle through the city centre on the way to the gym, and buildings are just epic, like it's a beautiful, beautiful city, and when you're surrounded by a place like that, like you feel inspired to go out and give it your best because like why would you not when you get to be in this sort of place? So, yeah, there's a lot of love about the university and the city itself. Um, but I mean, I guess the thing that makes me bleed dark blue now is definitely the people and the friendships and the relationships that I've built over these two years. Um, and it definitely will be for life.
SPEAKER_02That's so nice! So just put a smile on my face. Okay, so I want to rewind a bit as well, but not as far as 12 years ago. Um, but more to the when you started at Oxford because Oxford obviously had this nine-year unfortunate streak of not winning. But in the meantime, it wasn't like it's not like the boat race is the only race that you guys have done. It's not that you race twice a year. There were races that happened last year in the run-up, which some went well, some didn't go well, and then races that happened this year, most recently, the Heineken, I believe, which you guys obviously won. Yes. Um talk me through or talk us through where do you think the tipping point was in how you approached this year versus last year? Yeah. Where you obviously didn't win.
SPEAKER_00Um, I don't think there is necessarily a specific tipping point. I think the result that we got this year has been building for a really long time, and we really are standing on the shoulders of the women that came before us. Like, you can't build a project like this in one year, and yes, we got to be the crew that did do it on the day, but without the rest of the team this year, the coaches, the support, and also the alumni, and everyone who's raced before, like, I think one of the special things about these programs is you are so connected to the alumni. Like, we would get um people to come back and talk to us, we'd learn from their stories. Um, the coxes would work with previous boat race coxes to like be a student of the tideway and really get to know those courses. So there probably wasn't one specific thing that we changed this year that enabled this this to happen. I think it was has been building for a really long time, and I'm just really grateful for everyone who's kept on pushing and pushing no matter what the result was each year, to keep finding more boat speed, and it doesn't take anything away from the opposition. You know, Cambridge have a brilliant programme and they're great athletes, and the boat race wouldn't be this special race if it was always going one direction, you know. Like both clubs are constantly trying to find more speed. Um, and yeah, I just think today, I mean this weekend we really got a culmination of all of the years of work um and the work that's gone in this season as well.
SPEAKER_02But do you think the fact that obviously last year a lot went into it and it's the same emotional ride, but didn't come with the desired outcome? This year, like you're looking at probably your last year at Oxford before graduating. Yeah, Cambridge obviously sitting on all these wins, there must have been a difference in how you guys approach the year to how not to discredit them, like they're obviously amazing athletes, but at the end of the day, they didn't win.
SPEAKER_00I mean, I think when you've lost for such a long time, if you keep doing the same thing, you can't expect a different result. So we did have to try new things. Um, I mean, I I bought some sessions in from what we've done with the national team, um, and that's definitely not what has changed it, but we really tried to build a culture where like the more you put in, the more you get out of it, you know, working really hard right from the start of pre-season. Um, I mean, the coaches are fantastic as well. Um, I don't know, it is hard to put pinpoint exactly what it is, but we had just focused so hard on the rhythm that we were trying to create and trying to build a rhythm that as athletes we believed would be fast enough to win the boat race. And from the first stroke we pushed off the dock back in October, like before Head of the Charles, through to the last stroke coming in off the pre-paddle, it was all about creating that, and that would come in variety of different sessions, whether it's like more 8k tech or whether you're literally in your fourth 4k piece or whatever. You know, like it really was really focused about trying to generate that and doing it together. Like the best thing about eights rowing is that there are no egos, you are one boat, you cross the line together. Um, so building something that's stronger than the individuals in that boat is a big ethos of what we were about, um, and being like really united, like we had three values, which was united, grit, and trust, and like buying into those every day and using those values when we had to make hard hard decisions. And I think that's kind of what our race showed on Saturday. Like, if I were to describe that like it was united, it was really gritty, and we had trust in what we were trying to do. So I think having the clarity around those values and buying into that throughout the whole season kind of gave us the confidence to just sit on that start line knowing we could go out and just keep buying into the same thing we've been doing all year.
SPEAKER_01I do think that is so important, and you can definitely tell that you guys were all living and breathing that, like throughout like the whole build-up. You could see like in the interviews you're all giving, um, the team bonding exercise they showed you do, and then like on the water, and even like through to the finish, I could like see that was so apparent. But I want to ask, like, what it was like being president because obviously you went there last year, lost the boat race, but that then you took on this role of being president of the boat club whilst also training full-time and studying. What was that like, and how how did you like deal with that as well this season?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean it has been an absolute privilege. I'm not gonna lie to serve as president uh of Oxford University Boat Club this year. Um again, it's it's it has been quite a lot, but I have loved I've loved being able to work with like the next generation of women's rowers, you know, like you have people there who learnt to row at college and have been rowing for two years joining the boat club and like bringing their energy into what we're trying to create. And then you've also got other athletes who have been to the Olympics or been rowing for years, so trying to enable everyone to develop and learn and like build on themselves as an athlete, like that's one of the things that I found so cool about it. Um yeah, it has been balancing it all has been really hard, and like I'm so grateful to have a really supportive partner that's made it very possible as well. Like it is it is definitely a challenge. Um, but I think one of the other things that makes it possible is your whole team is doing the same thing, like you're all full-time students, and you kind of use each other to help get through that stuff. Like, we'll be getting work finished on the minibus on the way back from practice, or um like when we're going out racing for an event, like everyone is working all the time. If you get stuck and you need to like ask a question, there's someone who's been who does like a statistics degree or it's something else, and you can kind of have these problem-solving discussions then and then with your teammates and really use each other off the water as well to like get through the hard times because I mean all of us had days where we were staying up way too late trying to get deadlines done, and then you've still got to be at practice the next morning ready to train as hard as you can. Um, but there will be days when that's your teammate who's in the same situation, so kind of using each other's energy to like keep pushing forward and like keep the momentum going forward no matter what else is going on off the water. Um, I think that's what is so special about a team, and I mean thank God rowing is a team sport because we wouldn't be able to do it without our teammates.
SPEAKER_02Um, I think that's such a nice point as well, just when I think back to like doing an undergrad in a big American team, like you do build it it's almost like a family sounds really cringy, but in in the sense that it can be a bit dysfunctional sometimes, and you have to be accepting of other people's ups, downs, lefts, rights, and it's a really special place to be in where you're like, Well, we're we're gonna make it work no matter what, and I think you don't often get that, like I love this team here, but it's still more individual than that because if you can't make it, then you you'll be replaced essentially, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, I it is it is really special, and because you're doing something that is so intense, like the pressure of the boat race is really real, you know. You go through a lot of emotions in the lead up to the race and on the day itself, and so the conversations that you have as a crew and as a team to learn how to deal with that, how to support each other. Like, we were having questions a couple of like conversations a couple of months ago where we spoke to the person who sat in front of us and behind us in the boat, and we were just have we were like, okay, everyone take time to find out like what helps that person like bring the best out of themselves and then work towards enabling that over the future. So I think yeah, you just kind of have conversations that you'd never normally have in the real world to get the best out of each other. And I mean, we get to live with each other the week leading into the boat race, and that is just so much fun, like it's so fun. You just like wake up in the morning, you're all making breakfast together, and then like you get to just do all your days together, and you have amazing events that you get to go to, and then you go rowing together, like it just is you spend 24-7 with each other, and I just love that. I think it's we just have had the best time and doing the most ridiculous things, but it's just so much fun, and kind of having the opportunity that this race brings to spend that time with these people is really special.
SPEAKER_01I'm sure there's so many moments that stand out, especially in the last week. But are there could you pick like your top three moments, whether that's in the build-up, whether that's on the start line, the race, or the finish?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that must be so hard. Oh yeah. I mean, I kind of mentioned it earlier, but one of my favourite moments this year was was coming out of the boat base. Like we kind of we had a huddle, all arms around each other, said our final few words, and then everybody hugged each other. Like you make you literally had eight hugs, you know, and and then we like got the boat and took it out, and I have not had a feeling like that where you just felt so confident and excited to go race and like to go out there and just see what we could do, and we you never know what the outcome's gonna be, but I knew that we were ready to do our best, and so that was that's pretty epic, and I I'll hold on that for a long time. The other one, like I was we had the day before we were all really, really nervous, and we were trying to come up with silly games and silly questions to try and help us like stay grounded, and one of them we were like, Okay, we'll go around and we'll all say what we're excited for tomorrow. Um, and one of the girls on that boat said, I'm really, really excited for a minute and five seconds into the race when we get into our rhythm, and I just was like, Okay, actually, I'm really excited for that. And so not her saying that, but actually in the race when we were doing our transitions, um, I really enjoyed that, and like to actually really enjoyed the rowing that you've put in all year and just know that you're all together, like our cocks did a fantastic job, but like we just hit a rhythm that was right, um, and so that was I mean, that's just so fun when your boat is just moving exactly the way you you've been wanting it and working towards. Um I mean I was yeah, probably uh probably not really crossing the finish line was I feel that was I was I was not feeling my best at that point, but um being able to celebrate with everyone afterwards, I was being on the podium with the team was pretty epic, but um a lot of my friends and family were in a pub just down the road, and I managed to get there like straight after we finished with the media and the presentations, and like going into that pub and just being able to like dance with all of them for a few songs, give everyone a hug, and like they've been so supportive ever since I started rowing, and I really would not be still doing this if it wasn't for all of them. So, I mean, I took a big sort of chapel down, which also made it more really fun. Um, but yeah, just being able to like see all of them straight after the race as well. We had a similar thing at the Olympics where we got to go and see all our friends and family like right afterwards, and like yes, with the people that are doing this thing, but there's so many people behind us, and so being able to give them a hug, I yeah, I remember that as well.
SPEAKER_02So lots of epic moments, so nice, and then I have a question. We obviously won our Olympic medal together, yeah. But what was it like winning this? It I know obviously one won't replace the other, but I feel like even Even watching it, like a group of us sat and watched it watched the race together on Saturday afternoon, and I I feel it's obviously different from the Olympics, but I do feel like it it holds a sort of similar emotional weight, and I don't know if that's also because it's a 1v1 situation, which obviously is so intense, it's the most intense type of racing. Why Henley's also like just such a minefield almost? But I mean, if anyone listening to this watched it, I watching you cross the finish line and going from like heaving to cheering to crying to heaving a bit more. Like it was it was a there was a lot going on. Yeah, how what in you know as as a few words as possible, what was what was that, what were you feeling?
SPEAKER_00Uh I actually think one of the most overwhelming feelings from both was just pure happiness. Like I know a lot of people get results that they're looking for and they feel relief, but especially that Olympic medal and the boat race, it just was so happy, and yeah, that's a pretty amazing feeling to have, like just pure happiness. Um and they do both feel super important, like the I felt like I don't know, I think one of the differences is with this race in particular, the boat race this year. I felt I had thought so much and spent literally every minute of every day, kind of for the last year, caring and thinking, and I felt like I had put so much more of myself from a non-rowing point of view into this result. Whereas I think at the Olympics, like I had been dreaming of it, but I kind of felt like I was just part of this crew.
SPEAKER_02Do you think that was because you had more of like a leadership role and you were like steering it a bit more, and it was more of a problem-solving, like, okay, how are we going to do this?
SPEAKER_00And I had and I think I had more responsibility in that sense. Like there definitely was like it's a privilege to have that responsibility. I definitely felt like I needed to There were people relying, like whereas in the Olympics, and maybe it would be different in a different situation, but I definitely felt like I needed to look after myself and get myself in the best way I could for everyone else in the crew, but I wasn't having to think about how we would do it, yeah, yeah, yeah. And maybe that's also just like years of rowing, yeah. Like it would be like that, was my first Olympics, like I was learning so much in the three years of the team leading into that, and learnt so much of the games, and actually, maybe if I'd done a boat race before that, I wouldn't have had the same experience at the boat race. But having learned what I did through that Olympic cycle, was able to build on that um in the two years afterwards. Yeah, but they're both free.
SPEAKER_01I could honestly sit here and chat for hours um because you are one of my favourite people. I think you're so like just how you lead. Like, I remember my first camp, I was sharing with Heidi, and I was just like, I learned so much from you, and just like I think you bring such a great energy to like the team, and it's gonna be amazing having you back. Um, but obviously, like we've got enough session to get to. We can probably hear the music downstairs, so we're gonna have to wrap up at some point. But what's what's the next steps for you? What are you looking forward to in terms of I guess that's your last boat race for now? Like, obviously, sad, but how how are you feeling like moving forward?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it it will be my last boat race, which is it, yeah, it's really sad, but I mean there's so many more opportunities out there. Like, I I feel excited for what's gonna come next. Um, and we'll graduate later this year, uh, and then go back full-time rowing because the dream of Olympic gold is still there. We gotta get back training full-time um in pursuit of that. But we've got some great racing, hopefully, lined up. Well, this weekend starting tomorrow, um, and then over the coming months. Uh but I like rowing and I like boats going fast, and I love racing. So if I can keep being in a boat with some great people, then I'm excited for whatever's gonna come.
SPEAKER_01And if you could say one thing that turned the tide, just in like one word or one sentence, what is the one most important thing that turned the tide?
SPEAKER_00Passion.
unknownYes.
SPEAKER_00That was extremely important. Yeah, everyone on the team had so much passion, and that's pretty epic.
SPEAKER_02Well, that is a wrap on our first ever guest on Between the Boys. Hopefully, this was an interesting list and something slightly different. We get a lot of questions in about you know, if a team isn't going well or a crew isn't going well, what can we do? How can we still perform? And I mean, a nine-year losing streak essentially, unfortunately, it is what it was, but you know, that can also be turned. So, hopefully, you guys got something from this. I certainly did. As Becky said, it's always great to listen to your thoughts, Heidi. So, thank you very much. Thank you.
SPEAKER_01And yeah, that's it for the seventh episode of Between the Boys. So, we'll see you next time for a whole different topic. Bye! Between the Boys is proudly sponsored by Rocket Coaching, a UK-based performance coaching and development practice led by Ian Howe.
SPEAKER_02Rocket Coaching works with leaders and teams across organizations of all sizes, helping unlock true potential and deliver lasting world-class performance through a values-led human approach.
SPEAKER_01With decades of experience in sales, leadership, coaching, and human performance, Rocket delivers sustainable transformation for organizations, helping people perform at their best, not just in business, but in life. Discover more at rocketcoach.co.uk.
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