Thank you, Erin Kennedy OBE
The double Paralympic Champion will hang up her cox box after Henley Royal Regatta
Credit: Benedict Tufnell
Ambassador, role-model, servant to the sport. You only have to read the comments section of Erin Kennedy’s post detailing that this will be her last racing season to feel the respect and pride that the rowing community has for the four-time World Champion.
Erin’s rowing journey began at Pembroke College, Oxford, and she fell in love with a sport that would shape the next 15 years of her life. In fact, Erin enjoyed a full-circle moment after being invited back to Oxford to cox Torpids. History was made as Pembroke College won the Women’s Headship, the first time in the College’s history and with Erin at the helm.
In the decade and a half between those two pillars of her career, Erin has amassed an incredible trophy cabinet, contributed to one of the greatest sporting dynasties in the world, and inspired a community after beating breast cancer.
Off the water, Erin is a proud mentor for WOX, the cox-specific mentoring team changing the narrative on coxswain coaching globally. It’s one of the many ways Erin will continue to be connected with the sport after hanging up her lifejacket.
“For nearly any retiring athlete, four European, three World and two Paralympic titles would be the plaudits to underline their career. In Erin’s case, the story of her time with the GB Rowing Team superseded her success,” said Interim Performance Director Tom Dyson.
“Erin’s resilience throughout her treatment and her triumphant return to the team for the final years of the Paris Paralympiad are remarkable. As she steps back from the coxing seat post Henley Royal Regatta, we wish her every success for her next steps.”
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After coxing the Oxford University Women’s Blue Boat to victory in record time in 2014, Erin moved to Leander Club. The two-time Paralympic champion would make her debut for Great Britain in 2017, steering the Women’s Eight to fourth place at the European Rowing Championships in Račice, Czech Republic.
Her debut in the PR3 Mixed Coxed Four would come in 2018 when the crew of Ellen Buttrick, Grace Clough, Ollie Stanhope, and Daniel Brown would win gold. The two-second win ahead of the United States of America was her first world title. One year later, the crew, which now contained James Fox and Giedre Rakauskaite alongside Stanhope, Buttrick, and Kennedy, set a World Best Time on their way to booking their ticket to the Tokyo Paralympics.
After delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Tokyo 2020 was a sensational regatta for Great Britain. When their moment finally came, the PR3 Mixed Coxed Four delivered Great Britain’s third Paralympic win in a row in this event, continuing an unbeaten run that still exists today. It was one of two gold medals that the Para rowing team won as Laurence Whiteley and Lauren Rowles struck gold in the PR2 Mixed Double Sculls.
The Paris cycle kicked off with the same golden tint that Tokyo had ended with, as a new-look PR3 Mixed Coxed Four won World Rowing Cup I in Belgrade, Serbia.
It later transpired that she had boarded the flight to Serbia the day after being diagnosed with breast cancer.
“I was able, with the support of my family, friends and team, to fly to Serbia to finally ‘complete the set” and win a gold medal at every international para-rowing event,” said Erin in 2022.
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“Family, friends and faith will support me through my treatment and recovery, and I have already been blown away by the response from the rowing community, both at home and abroad.”
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Throughout Erin’s cancer treatment, she documented the journey and the hardships. The openness through this process inspired many others to share their stories and check their bodies.
“My story went global, from every daytime TV show in the UK to across the pond on CNN, Brazilian newspapers and half of Europe. I wasn’t prepared for such a response. I just didn’t want to stop rowing and wasn’t really thinking much beyond that.
“Why did the story go viral? Because cancer resonates with SO many people. Because the rhetoric around cancer can be so binary and limiting. Because people with cancer aren’t always visible, as they are busy actually dealing with it. Because everyone knows someone who has been impacted by cancer. Because everyone might be a little bit scared that one day, it might touch them too.
“It made me even more determined to use my voice to shine a light and de-mystify cancer – from diagnosis to treatment, the good stuff and the horrible bits. To encourage conversations, to reassure anyone who is diagnosed with cancer that life is still for living. Most importantly, I want to bang the drum and make sure people get to know their bodies and get checked if anything doesn’t feel right.”
One year later, Erin returned to the Great Britain Rowing Team. A year to the day after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Alongside Rakauskaite, Edward Fuller, Morgan Fice-Noyes, and Francesca Allen, she won the 2023 European Rowing Championships. Three weeks later, they would set a new World Best Time on their way to dominating World Rowing Cup II.
The 2023 World Rowing Championships were much like the 2019 edition. Gold for Great Britain and passports stamped for the PR3 Mixed Coxed Four to head to the Paris Paralympics.
With no global pandemic to disrupt the games in Paris, the City of Love put on a summer to remember. After setting yet another World Best Time in their heat, 06:43.68, the Mixed PR3 Coxed Four went on to win Great Britain’s fourth gold medal in a row at a Paralympics in this boat class.
For her services to Rowing, Erin was awarded an MBE in the 2021 New Year Honours. For services to rowing and Breast Cancer Awareness, she was subsequently honoured with an OBE in the 2024 New Year Honours.
Erin’s final campaign will be a fitting one. Racing with Leander Club, she will compete down the hallowed Henley stretch one final time as she competes in the Ladies Challenge Plate. It’s the stretch she’s trained on, won the Boat Race on, and won Henley Women’s Regatta on.
“The truth is, I will never leave this beautiful, ridiculous sport behind. Between my work with WOX, supporting the next generation of coxes, and the fact that I can never turn a race down, rowing will always be in my life.
“Ultimately, I feel grateful. Grateful that the sport I stumbled into at uni gave me a life richer, bigger and more meaningful than I could have imagined.”
“Erin’s contribution to the team has been invaluable in GBR securing back-to-back Paralympic golds in Tokyo and Paris,” said Paralympic Head Coach Nicola Benavente.
“While she leaves a spectacular competitive record behind, her resilience and inspiration will continue to impact not only the Para squad but the wider Great Britain Rowing Team. On behalf of the Para squad, thank you, Erin and we wish you every success wherever the future takes you!”
