Rowing’s a family affair for Claire Bove

Claire Bove won a silver medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in the lightweight women’s double sculls. She fulfilled an Olympic dream and carried on the family tradition.

It comes as no surprise that Claire Bove caught the “rowing bug.” After trying out various sports in high school, including Triathlon, she was drawn into the family business.

Claire Bove’s mother, Christine Bove (nee Liegeois), rowed for the French national team at the 1988 World Rowing Championships in the lightweight women’s double sculls, bringing home a silver medal. Her brother, Ivan, was also part of the French national team – and is now one of the top coastal rowers in the country. Their father Vincent competed at the French national championships and was a coach at Bove’s club in Mantes-la-Jolie – coaching her when she started rowing as a teenager.

When asked how they managed to separate rowing life and family life, Bove says, “it is something that came naturally. When you’re training, you listen to your coach – it doesn’t matter if it’s your father or someone else. When we’re home, we put things into perspective – it’s not rowing anymore, it’s our family life.”

Perhaps surprisingly, rowing is not the main topic discussed at family dinners. “We are of course very supportive of each other because we can relate to similar experiences and issues related to long training sessions, busy schedules, traveling, etc. But we like to talk about life in general, our studies, our friends. We spend so much time at the rowing club, abroad, that when we’re home, we like to have a break from rowing,” Bove says.

It also helps that the parents and the kids do not row together. “It doesn’t work very well; everyone wants to be in the stroke seat, and it becomes a whole mess,” laughs Claire.

But the silver medallist at the Tokyo Olympics loves to row with her brother in the double. With the possibility of coastal rowing being introduced at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games – with a mixed double sculls – could we see Claire and Ivan in the same boat?

“I would love to,” she says. “I tried coastal rowing this year at the European Coastal Challenge, and I really liked it. 2028 seems a bit far away, but it could be really cool.”

Although Claire shined on the biggest stage last summer, the Bove family is also well represented by the elder, Ivan, also a lightweight – and now one of the top coastal rowers, having won a bronze medal at the 2019 World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals in Shenzhen. Although he wasn’t on the podium in Oeiras in 2021, he is certainly a name to watch as the discipline continues to grow.

Thirty-two years ago, Liegeois won a silver medal in the same boat class as her daughter. Although the Bove family couldn’t travel to Tokyo last summer, they watched Claire carry on the family tradition as she chased down an Olympic medal. Maybe not the last one, with Paris 2024 just around the corner – and the possibility, this time, for the Bove family to see Claire perform on home waters.