Olympian Winckless rowing for her life

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12/06/2009

It is one thing to raise money for your favourite charity. It is another thing to do it for a charity that could help save your life. Three-time Olympian and Olympic medallist Sarah Winckless of Great Britain is gene-positive for Huntington’s disease.

Two months ago, Winckless, 35, announced her retirement from rowing. But she will be back in the boat to race the elite double at the Henley Women’s Regatta. This regatta is set to round out 10 days of fundraising during which Winckless and her rowing partner Victoria Wood aim to raise £10,000.

The goal is to raise £1,000 per day and the duo started this bid on 8 June. After just 36 hours, Winckless and Wood had already achieved half of their goal. At the time of publishing this story, the duo’s online total was over £18,000.

Huntington disease is hereditary and Winckless has watched the growing effects of it on her mother over the years. Huntington’s attacks the body’s central nervous system. Once the symptoms start to set in, causing clumsiness, uncontrollable muscle movement, erratic behaviour, memory loss and depression, the patient’s average life expectancy is reduced, although the disorder itself is not fatal.

Winckless has inherited the faulty gene but so far has had no signs of the degeneration.

Winckless has known since 1996 that she was gene-positive and since then she went on to race in the double at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Four years later Winckless raced again at the Athens Olympics, this time taking silver in the double. Last year, at Beijing, Winckless was in Great Britain’s eight - they finished fifth.

Winckless says deciding to retire from rowing, rather than carry on to the London Olympics, has nothing to do with carrying the faulty Huntington’s gene. She only wanted to carry on if she could be in the single. Winckless said in an interview with Matthew Syed of The Times, UK: “I needed something that really scared me to give me that motivation. When I race the single I can get so scared that I have to remind myself to breathe and that's quite exciting. At 38 (for London 2012), it would be old to win your first Olympic gold, but I was willing to give it a go.”

When Katherine Grainger earned the singles spot for Great Britain ahead of Winckless, Winckless chose to retire. Two months later she is racing again, this time for charity - a race that could help her for the rest of her life.

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