On the Thursday 5th May, we welcomed Magdalene (Maggie) Mlynek and Ellen Buttrick, MBE (both students at the LSE) to give a talk on their experiences as ‘Women in Rowing’ to our members and the wider LSE community. Our Outreach Officer, Oscar Beale, kindly hosted the event.
Ellen Buttrick, MBE, is a Paralympic Champion, having won gold in the mixed coxed four in Tokyo, and is a Trustee of Love Rowing, who we held this event in support of. She shed light on the barriers people from different backgrounds face when trying to get into the sport and offered ideas on how we, at LSE Rowing Club, can further increase our inclusivity and continue to foster a diverse community. It was also fascinating to hear about her journey into rowing and of her time at the Paralympics 2020, particularly with the impact of Covid. Oscar and Maggie particularly enjoyed trying on Ellen’s gold medal afterwards! (Pictured above, left to right: Maggie, Oscar, Ellen)
Magdalene Mlynek joined us to share her experience of filing a lawsuit against the University of Connecticut (U’Conn) when they threatened to cut funding for U’Conn Huskies women’s rowing team, going against Title IX. Maggie shared insights from data that she collated and analysed to support the case, highlighting the imbalance of funding and gender inequity across many university sports teams. Maggie, alongside 12 other rowers who brought the case forward, won the lawsuit against U’Conn, fighting to create opportunities for women to compete and thrive within sport.
We are very grateful to both Ellen and Maggie for joining us for the ‘Women in Rowing’ Q&A and sharing their thoughts so that we can continue to encourage women, and those who have not previously been able to access rowing, to take part in the sport at LSE. Thankfully, both Ellen and Maggie believe that the future of women in rowing is bright!
You can watch the recording here:
Any donations to Love Rowing are greatly appreciated and can be made here:
https://www.loverowing.org/fundraising/donation/3
