Juggling motherhood and Olympic Qualification for Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne

Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne raced in the Great Britain Women’s quadruple sculls at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. A year later, in summer 2022 she had given birth to her son Freddie. Since then, she has returned to training, qualified the women’s double sculls for the Olympic Games and is now making final preparations for Paris! World Rowing chatted to Mathilda to find out a bit more about how the last couple of years has been for her.

In Tokyo, the Great Britain women’s quad missed out on the A-final, and finished seventh overall. Reflecting on those Games, Mathilda said; “It felt like I had unfinished business and when I became pregnant it seemed the most logical thing to do to carry on. I was excited about the challenge of coming back post baby and wanted to ‘end’ my career on my own terms. I did not want it to be I stopped rowing simply because I became a mum.”

Mathilda never fully stopped training during pregnancy as she was determined to see if it was possible for her to make a return to the British Team. “I was able to come back in my own time so was able to spend lots of time with Freddie. For the first year, 3 days a week I trained from home. I would do my cardio sessions in his nap times and then we’d go to Upper Thames Rowing Club to do weights when he was awake from his second nap. I was lucky in the fact my partner worked from home Monday and Friday so he’d look after Freddie when I did first session and then I’d train in Freddie’s nap times for my other sessions.”

Having kept on top of her training throughout, Mathilda’s resurgence happened relatively swiftly, and she was picking up medals on the British domestic racing scene by early Summer 2023. “In hindsight I was quick enough to comeback quicker, and should have pushed harder to race at the 2023 World Rowing Championships.”, she admitted.

As it happened in reality, Mathilda joined forces with Rebecca Wilde in the women’s double, a boat which Great Britain had failed to qualify at the 2023 World Rowing Championships. They raced together for the first time at the 2024 European Rowing Championships, just a few weeks before travelling to Lucerne for the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta where they claimed one of the two qualification places for Paris.

Asked how it felt to have qualified, Mathilda said, “Massively relieved. I think the enormity of it is just starting to sink in for both of us. It was lovely to join the squad again and start training alongside the rest of the team. It’s all coming around very quickly.”

The process has certainly had its challenges, admits Mathilda, saying “I feel really guilty that I’m letting Freddie down when I’m tired as when I come in all I want to do is sit down but in reality, that’s never possible with Freddie who seems to have far too much energy. So, in reality my recovery when home only starts when he’s gone to bed as I’m on my feet for the majority of the time when he’s awake. I also really struggle with leaving him for camps and competitions so much so that he travelled for qualifiers and will be there for all of the Games.”

However, with the challenges, there also came plenty of positives. “Being Freddie’s mum has given me a new perspective on rowing as it stops rowing becoming all consuming”, Mathilda said.  “I love coming home as when I step through the door the stress of rowing decreases and I get caught up in the simple delights of Freddie’s world. I also loved having him at the finish line at qualifiers, even if he was screaming!”

Finally, asked what advice she would give to other women considering whether they can juggle motherhood and full-time training, Mathilda said; “I initially struggled and still do at times to ask for help. There’s so many people out there who will help you. There might even be people who you haven’t spoken to before but when they hear your story and what you want to do I’ve always found most people are willing to help me. Yes, training is different due to lack of recovery but it’s amazing what you can do on significantly less sleep. The journey of training may look very different but I fully believe, and have proven, it’s possible to be an international athlete and a Mum.”

Mathilda has been officially selected to represent Great Britain in the women’s double sculls at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.