A new book by Czech former World Championship rower Daniela Nachazelova is a collection of 14 personal stories of world-renowned female rowers from around the world, who reveal how rowing has changed their lives. Nachazelova’s debut book is a response to the Olympic Games in Tokyo, which will be the most gender-balanced Olympic games in history. Photo credit: Women’s Voices in Rowing media.
Czech, Dec 6 (BD) – The newly released book, “Women’s Voices in Rowing”, is written by Daniela Nachazelova, a Czech former rower. The book comprises 14 interviews conducted by the author with some of the most influential women in rowing, in which the athletes discuss their professional careers and how their lives have changed because of rowing, a sport won by going backwards as fast as you can.
The author Daniela Nachazelova had a successful rowing career, during which she received a scholarship to Washington State University and won medals at World Cups and World Championships. Nachazelova is the first woman to speak out about the struggles and challenges faced by female professional rowers.
The author explains her motivations to write the book: ‘‘When I was going through the literature about rowing I realized it was all biographies of men, male coaches, and higher-ranked officers. That’s why I decided to give space to women. I was looking for stories. A fantastic list of triumphs and medals from world competitions wasn’t enough for me. I needed drama, struggle, tension. My ‘dream team’ reveal their beginnings in rowing but also their experience with discrimination and how they have been fighting it.’’
The book is a response to the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020, set to be the most gender-balanced Olympic Games in history, with 48.8% of the participants across all sports expected to be women.
Nachazelova explains that she will provide financial support for diversity and the education of female coaches through this project.‘‘I got inspired by Solutions Journalism, and from each sale of the book, both electronic and print, we will donate one euro or one dollar to the World Rowing Gender Equality, Inclusion and Diversity Commission.’’
“Women’s Voices in Rowing” shares personal testimonials of the hard work, passion, courage and persistence of female athletes to inspire readers. Rowing is a sport which is often overlooked when children in the Czech Republic are choosing which sports to pursue. The stories show that rowing is a sport which has space for girls and women to succeed in the field.
‘‘I would be very happy if the book inspires the next generation of female rowers by
showing them the strong women who blazed the trail,’’ says Nachazelova.
The book features 14 inspirational female athletes including:
- Caryn Davies, Olympic gold medallist and lawyer
- Tricia Smith, president of the Canadian Olympic Committee
- Michelle Carpenter, CEO of Rowing Ireland
There is also an interview with Martina Souckova, a Czech youth rowing coach and holder of a Fair Play Award, which she won for saving two young people’s lives during a huge storm in Prague in 2018.
Foreigners living in the Czech Republic may even find a representative of their country as the women come from eight countries: Canada, the Czech Republic, Great Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United States, and South Africa.
The ebook is available on Amazon and hardcover copies should be available from December 4th. For more information and orders, visit https://voicesinrowing.com/.
