Hodgkins-Byrne is the first rower in recent history to return to an Olympic program as a sponsored athlete (Glover had all three of her children while she was retired from the sport). “I was always going to be a bit of a guinea pig, but hopefully I've had all those teeth and we've all learned collectively if anyone else goes through it,” Hodgkins-Byrne says.
“British Rowing really wants to normalise pregnancy and motherhood, which is so important. The fact that they took the time to talk to Helen and I rather than just writing what they think works shows that they want to give us a voice and that they really care about our experience. This year has been completely different and I feel really positive about it.”
Would she like to feel more supported? “If there was a way to cover a fraction of the training camps, that would make a big difference. But the fact that we get to take them to camp is huge. It makes us better athletes.”
Yet UK Sport, the funding agency for British Olympic sport, has a finite pot. “The foreseeable problem is that if too many athletes choose to get pregnant, we don't have funding for athletes to compete for us,” says Dr Ann Redgrave, British Rowing's chief medical officer, who set the organisation's maternity policy. “There's definitely some work to be done to work it out.”
There may still be more problems to solve, but Team GB's supermums have never been more determined to succeed.