A mother and a rower
© Photo thanks to Mirna Rajle
When you are pregnant everyone has an
opinion on what you should or should not
be doing. Add this to being a pregnant elite
athlete and you, the reader, in all likelihood
already have an opinion.
It is not hard to see the impact of pregnancy on
women in top level rowing. The number of female
rowers who continue in the sport after having a
baby is a handful and the majority of these are
from Eastern European countries with Romania
being at the forefront.
runner Paula Radcli;e won the New York
City Marathon nine months after
giving birth. Tennis player Kim Clijsters
came back two years after the birth of
her daughter to beat the No. 3 seed
Venus Williams in the 2009 US Open.
Scottish golfer Catriona Matthews
won the 2009 British Open 10 weeks
after giving birth.
“It’s simply a transient alteration
in normal physiology.”
Jo Hannafin, MD PhD
Interestingly, the research on the impact of
pregnancy and birth on elite athletes, although
limited, shows that there are benefits to the
mother that can potentially enhance her sporting
capabilities.
Rowing’s own Ekaterina Karsten-Khodotovitch of Belarus, whose
daughter Alexandra is now 12,
took one year out of the sport and
came back to be a World Champion
within the year. Bulgaria’s Rumyana
Neykova took 2001 o; to have her first
baby and was a World Champion in 2002.
She then had her second child in 2006 returning
in 2007 to take world silver in the women’s single.
The next year Neykova won her first Olympic gold.
thus improving aerobic capacity. There are also
hormonal changes including the increase of the
male hormone testosterone which could increase
muscle strength.
Lightweight rower Mirna Rajle of
Croatia and her daughter Tina
We all know the stories of the most famous mother
athletes as they make big news. British marathon
FISA medical commission member Jo Hannafin
notes that there is no physiologic disadvantage
to pregnancy. During pregnancy there is a greater
supply of red blood cells in the mothers’ body
of up to 60 per cent, which could improve the
body’s ability to carry oxygen to the muscles,
There is also anecdotal evidence that after childbirth
a woman’s pain threshold is re-evaluated and
reset at a higher level. After childbirth, barring
complications, Hannafin says athletes can resume
training within four to six weeks. >
