Becky Wilde
Becky Wilde: The swimmer-turned-rower who bounced back from surgery to win Olympic bronze in Paris
Written for Cymru Women’s Sport by Alex Bousfield
Becky Wilde and Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne on the podium, Steve McArthur
“I have always just loved the water. Whether I am in it or on it, I just love that peace.”
Becky Wilde became a Paris Olympic bronze medallist after picking up rowing just seven years prior. The 27-year-old made the transition from Welsh international swimming to rowing in her first year of university. Becky says: “I have always just loved the water. Whether I am in it or on it, I just love that peace.”
Becky qualified for the Olympics in a double with Mathilda Hodgkins Byrne at the final qualification event, in Switzerland. The pair only got in a boat together in January 2024, after Becky subbed in for an injured athlete. Mathilda competed at the Tokyo Olympics and was returning after giving birth to her son. “Something just clicked with us, and we went pretty fast the first time we got together. I was very lucky that I had Mathilda. She was so experienced and such a great person to have behind me,” says Becky. Having had a ‘terrible’ Europeans two weeks before the qualifications, no one was expecting the pair to qualify but they walked away with a spot at the Paris 2024. This was the first time that Becky’s parents had been to watch her at an international competition and were able to celebrate alongside Mathilda’s son and partner. “Although I had achieved what was my ultimate goal and dream, we still wanted to go and do ourselves justice in Paris two months later,” says Becky.
“I never look out, I just listen to what Mathilda says.”
Going to the Paris 2024 Olympics was a childhood dream come true for Becky, but she believed they could be the “dark horses in the competition.” In preparation for the Games the pair had a mantra that they used to say to each other, which was, “half a percent better every session”. They arrived in Paris and tried to treat it like business as usual. The double came second in their heat, which put them in a tough semi-final. Becky says all the teams she believed deserved to be in the final were in their semi-final. This was their biggest test yet, but they managed to secure qualification through to the final. When Becky describes the final, she says: “I never look out, I just listen to what Mathilda says. She will read the race and tell me when to go. I could kind of see the Dutch at the far side and I was completely wrong, I thought we got fourth when we crossed the line. Now I know we were comfortably in bronze, but I didn’t believe Mathilda when she told me. I had to see it written down on the scoreboard to believe her.”
The journey to the Olympics had not been a smooth one for Becky, who had experienced multiple serious injuries. Just two years into Becky’s rowing career, she had two hip surgeries, six weeks apart from each other. “I had to have surgery to return to normal living. Rowing was pretty far from my mind. I just wanted to be back and able to exercise.” After recovering from the surgery Becky was determined to return to the boat and carry on with her rowing career. By September of that year, she was back competing and even picked up her first international vest, by making it to the U23 Europeans. However, this was not the only injury Becky experienced, and she says: “It has been very easy at points to say, ‘why me, why me again’. But I think I just had to make it part of my narrative almost, that I will just bounce back from them and come back stronger.” Only 10 weeks before the Olympic trials, Becky had surgery on forearms. “The injuries have been the time that I have questioned myself most and had my darkest moments, but they have made me the athlete I am,” says Becky.
Becky made the leap from swimming to rowing in 2017, swapping a swimming costume for a unisuit. She was a Welsh international swimmer but decided to try rowing after struggling with illness and overtraining. She had always wanted to try rowing, ever since watching it at the London 2012 Olympics. She sent an email to the rowing coach at Bath University and joined the talent ID program the next week. “Looking back, it was maybe seen as a big decision, but it was something I wanted to try as my back up plan. It all happened so quickly, so I couldn’t really overthink it and it was obviously the best thing I could have done,” she says.
Becky Wilde and Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne on the water, Benedict Tufnell
Becky says she had some big advantages coming from a swimming background because she has a strong aerobic base and, “an idea of how to move through water. That natural feel really helps.” This is all well and good, but one of the main challenges she encountered was “staying afloat”. Becky says she could hardly do more than a few strokes without falling in. “Thank God I learnt in summer, because I don’t think I would still be a rower if I learnt in winter,” she says.
From the age of around 11 Becky trained seriously for swimming. She took inspiration from her sporty family, with her PE-teacher parents, who competed internationally and also her siblings, doing the same. Becky also says that having Welsh heritage through her Mum’s family, a lot of her childhood was spent watching the Welsh rugby. “That Welsh side of things is what I hold dearest to my heart and in swimming I always wanted to swim for Wales. We don’t have rowing in the Commonwealths but if it was an option I would still always pick them,” she says.
“Any opportunity you are given, just take and run with it as far as you can.”
The support along her sporting career has come from a multitude of places, but one person that Becky says made it all possible was her first rowing coach, Dan Harris. She says: “The faith that he had in me and the faith that he showed for all those years; I don’t think many other coaches would have done that and I wouldn’t have got to where I am without him.” Becky’s story is one of commitment and following her passions. Her advice to younger athletes is to, “chase the dream and don’t give up on it. Any opportunity you are given, just take and run with it as far as you can.”