The Crew Cut

When top international rower Jess Eddie won her first race, her prize was a chocolate bar. Now she’s clinched a bigger reward for her sporting efforts – being appointed a Crewroom Ambassador. Jess started rowing as an eight-year-old schoolgirl on the River Wear in her native County Durham. And today, she gains some of her inspiration from following a family tradition, in the footsteps of her great grandfather, who was a rower in the late 19th century. “His name was Watson and I was always told about him when I was a child by my Nana (my grandmother on my mother’s side). It must have been tough for them back then. He used to row on the Tyne and do races there. "They would race against the gentry. The North-East was one of the places where professional rowing began. Now it's nice to think about him lots of generations later,” says Jess. “Maybe deep down, rowing is in my genes.” As a top athlete, Jess constantly pushes herself to the limit - and she’s excited to become a Crewroom Ambassador because, she says, the company also “pushes the boundaries” in the sportskit world. “The brand is a really exciting one to be associated with,” says Jess, 30. “The kit has come on leaps and bounds, it's innovative, high quality, cutting-edge stuff, and people in the rowing world are starting to pick their heads up and take a look. “Crewroom is not just stuck in one area, it's part of the community and it likes to see what's out there, whether it's paddleboarding or core exercise classes. “It's more than a brand, it's recognised as an exciting sporting entity. The team are very enthusiastic, and the company want to push the boundaries.” Jess is just back from a training camp in Majorca, where she cycled in mountain ranges for up to seven hours a day, however rowing remains her number one passion. “I started rowing when I was eight. Me and my twin sister Alex went down to the rowing club in Durham. I was quite sporty but I also quite liked that you were out there on the water, able to see bits of the city that no one else could. “Aged nine or ten, I took part in my first rowing race and I beat a boy. My prize was a chocolate bar. I discovered I liked the competitive edge. Rowing hooks you in, it's really satisfying, so I carried on doing it.” Jess, who has a degree in psychology from the University of London, is already a firm favourite with Crewroom’s award-winning design team as, no matter how busy she gets in training, she’s always on hand to help our designers when they need a model for product development.

Standing six foot, six inches tall, top international rower Charles Cousins is not one to shrink from a challenge – and when we asked him to step up as a new Crewroom Ambassador, Charles leapt at the chance. “Crewroom has some awesome kit that looks after the athlete in bad weather. It makes a big difference - no one wants to be out on the water in minus two degrees but if you have decent kit on it makes all the difference,” says Charles, 25. “Also, Crewroom definitely have a good client base, and are supporting all the university sports teams, too. They are on the way up and I wanted to be part of helping them grow to being an even bigger brand.” In his new role, Charles will be testing Crewroom’s latest kit ranges as an elite athlete. He will also be taking to social media to air his views on our sports gear and writing the occasional blog. We’ll keep you posted. Currently high in the mountains in snowy Sierra Nevada, Spain, he’s attending an altitude camp at 2,300m. Daily training includes working out on rowing machines and weights in the gym. Every evening there’s a game of football. “I’ve brought my Cambridge United shorts with me but I’m not the best at football,” he admits. “I try not to be a deficit to the team – not to get in the way too much!” Whenever Charles would complain about feeling cold during training, his rowing coach had a favourite saying: “There's no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing”. Charles wholeheartedly agrees. “You need kit that allows you a full range of movement and you want to feel warn even with a lot on.” There’s one item of Crewroom kit that Charles is rarely without. “The one Crewroom item I use daily is the visors,” he adds. “They are the best ones I've come across and are about the only thing that can control my mop head during training.”

Crewroom was responsible for a "lucky dip" when the Trial Eights got underway in London this month – and nobody got wet by falling in the River Thames. The Trial Eights traditionally mark the moment when Cambridge and Oxford launch their campaigns for next year’s BNY Mellon Boat Races season – and this time, Crewroom played a central role. Apart from having been named official technical kit supplier for the races, Crewroom was also proud to offer up its Putney Embankment Hub HQ as a base for the rowers during the trials. Around 70 men and women rowers took part over two days on the river and we were there to help play host for the occasion. “Crewroom is all about caring for the athlete, and so when we heard the Women’s and Men’s Boat Clubs were due to descend on us, we thought we’d roll out the red carpet for them. “We prepared a load of presents from Santa for the crews, who helped themselves to a gift using our "lucky dip". We also made sure the rowers were kept nice and warm and dry when they came off the water,” said Crewroom Founder Kate Giles, a former national rower herself. Trial 8s Cambridge Trial Eights are a key step in each club’s preparations for racing in April, as it is the only opportunity the athletes have to race the full championship course side-by-side before race day. As a full dress-rehearsal, each squad split into two evenly matched crews as the athletes pitted themselves against their teammates. The coaches looked for as close a race as possible to see their athletes tested fully, and also looked to see which combinations worked well under racing pressure. The BNY Mellon Boat Races will take place 11 April next year. The BNY Mellon Boat Race will begin at 5:50pm, with the Newton Women's Boat Race beginning at 4:50pm.

As Founder and Director of Britain’s top stand-up paddleboarding company, Active 360, Paul Hyman has met a raft of challenges as he’s paddled around the world. But taking to the water wearing a long, fake, white Santa beard tested him to the limit. This month Paul conquered one of his toughest sporting assignments yet – when he took part in the Active 360 Christmas Party. It involved a big group of SUP paddleboarders donning fancy dress and paddling four and a half miles down the Thames. Paul dressed in full Santa Claus outfit for the occasion, including a huge, bushy, tickly Santa beard. “I found the beard got in my way a lot, which meant I couldn’t see what I was doing or where I was going,” said Paul. “Mind you, it was better than going dressed as an elk, which my friend did last year. “That proved to be very hot and I felt the Santa suit seemed the far better option, despite the beard which was rather cumbersome. Mind you, the funny looks and laughs I got from onlookers when Santa paddled under Hammersmith Bridge made it all worthwhile.” Paddle Santa Santa The paddle party set off from Kew Bridge and travelled to Putney, passing under four bridges, Kew Railway Bridge, Chiswick Bridge, Barnes Railway Bridge and Hammersmith Bridge. The finish line was on Putney Embankment outside the Hub HQ of Crewroom, where the team were on hand to offer paddlers a chance to try on some of our latest kit, including items such as the Elemental Paddle Gloves. Crewroom support teams also administered “first aid” – ie hot drinks and mince pies. Medics advised a further trip to the Duke’s Head pub afterwards. These are exciting times for both Active 360 and Crewroom as the companies are collaborating in a new SUP club, to be officially launched next spring. “We’ve measured up the racks at Crewroom where boards will be stored and the new club will be named ‘SUP London',’” Paul revealed. “Before Christmas, we’ll also be meeting with the Port of London Authority to arrange permission for SUP paddling downstream of Putney Bridge, which will be the first time in two years that this has been allowed.”

High-performance coach Paul Gascoyne (pictured left) has been enjoying vigorous sports for nearly 40 years and has so far escaped any serious sporting injuries. Now he’s hosting Crewroom’s popular Saturday-morning “Warrior Training” sessions. “Touch wood!” says Paul, “I’ve never had a serious injury. It’s down to a little bit of luck, I guess, and listening to your body, but actually if you train to be functionally fit, rather than train to look good, you increase the odds of remaining injury-free.” Paul is an outstanding trainer and athlete. His company UCANfitness draws on all his experience – he’s a competitive triathlete, seven-times Ironman, Xterra competitor and Adventure Racer. At Crewroom’s Hub HQ on Putney Embankment, he hosts his training sessions every Saturday from 9.30 – 10.30am. Newcomers get a free taster session, thereafter it’s £7 for the hour. Warrior training, also known as Agoge training, is so called because it was used by Spartan warriors to prepare for the battlefield, and it is a mixture of bodyweight exercises and running. Participants complete 10 reps of an exercise (which may be Kettlebells, Clubells, Gym Rings or Battleropes), then run 1km. The next round is a further 10 reps of the first exercise and a new exercise, then you run 1km again. You add one exercise each time and keep running the 1k after each group. In short 1 exercise 10 reps 1 run, 2 exercises 10 reps of each, 1 run, 3 exercises 10 reps of each 1 run and onwards until you finally complete 10 reps of all 6 exercises and finish with a run! “This training gives you a good functional base, plus it’s perfect for all sports. It will make you fit and less prone to injury,” explains Paul. When he was a 14 year-old schoolboy, Paul, who lives in Richmond, south-west London, loved cross-country running, rugby and football. He played centre-forward and Chelsea’s Peter Osgood was his hero. He also swam for his county (Hertfordshire). Now aged 52, and after a lifetime of sporting success, he delights in helping others develop their fitness. “Warrior training is the perfect way to train and it’s also ideal for obstacle racers,” he adds. He’s delighted to be under the Crewroom umbrella. “Their kit is ideal for all sports and it’s fully functional. I love working with the team at Crewroom, they’re a great bunch.” For more details of Paul’s classes, contact Crewroom on email here or Paul at ucan.fitness@gmail.com.

Christmas is coming early at Crewroom's new Pop-Up store in the Putney Exchange this year with a special 10 per cent pre-Christmas discount for shoppers. Our latest winter ranges are now in, our new 'Heroes of Putney' photographic exhibition is up, a host of brilliant new exercise classes are being laid on, and there are bargains galore to be snapped up. So now's the time to pop in to our Pop-Up! If your brain searches in vain for good ideas for Christmas presents every year, look no further than our new Pop-Up store, where our popular Laser and Elements ranges will be ready to try on. Our winter Distilled collection, featuring jackets, leggings, base layers, paddleboarding mittens, beanies, snoods, hoodies and Hokey Pokey ear warmers will also be available, all at a special discount. When making your in-store purchase, just mention the discount code CRMXMAS to receive your 10 per cent off. And if you can't pop down to our Pop-Up, maybe because you live outside London, then you can see our full kit and accessories ranges here. There will be all sorts of festive fun and games going on over the holiday period and don't miss our new 'Heroes of Putney' photographic exhibition that's the talk of the town. Featuring local people whom we feel deserve to have their portrait on the walls of our Pop-Up, the exhibition features people like Jess Eddie, the international rower and World Championship medalist and "Putney Pete", a well-known and popular sports coach at Putney High School. Award-winning photographer Melissa Cumberland, who has staged the show, would welcome your nominations for your Hero of Putney. So if you'd like to see their photo hanging on the Crewroom Pop-Up walls, email your nominations to enquiries@crewroom.biz.