Muzerie & Tarrant to retire from international rowing
Following the completion of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic cycle, Beccy Muzerie and Mat Tarrant have announced their retirements from international rowing whilst Helen Glover, Polly Swann and Ollie Cook will take a break from the GB Rowing Team
Following the completion of the 2021 rowing season and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic cycle, Beccy Muzerie and Mat Tarrant have announced their retirements from international rowing. In addition, Helen Glover, Polly Swann and Ollie Cook will be taking a break from the GB Rowing Team.
Matthew (Mat) Tarrant earned his first GB vest in 2007 at the World Rowing Junior Championships and represented Great Britain every year since, racing at Junior, U23 and Senior level. He was also selected as a spare for Team GB at both Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. He has raced at 13 World Championships, winning four gold, one silver and five bronze medals.
He will remain heavily involved in the sport as both an international coach and through RowElite which provides tailored coaching plans for all rowers, whatever their ability. He will also be launching Trained by Tarrant a new online personal training business providing tailored fitness and meal plans.
Commenting on his GB Rowing Team career, Peter Sheppard, British Rowing’s Chief Coach for U23s and Juniors said: “Well done and thank you to Mat for all he has brought to the British Rowing Performance programme over a sustained period. He has been a committed and reliable member of the squad for the last nine years and delivered medal-winning performances on numerous occasions.”
Beccy Muzerie (nee Girling) competed for Team GB in Tokyo as part of the Women’s 8+, having made her senior international debut in 2017. She started rowing at Cardiff University and won the Henley Women’s Academic Eight whilst studying there.
She made her senior international debut in 2017 and raced in the pair, four and eight during her career. She was a part of the silver-medal-winning World Cup and European GB Women’s Eight crews in 2018. One of her proudest moments in the GB Rowing Team was finishing third during Olympic trials in 2020.
She is returning to work as a fully qualified child and family social worker and will remain involved in sport through mentoring and charity work.
High performance coach James Harris said: “Beccy was an important member of the squad since 2017, being a calm, cool and mature head amongst the group. She did a great job of balancing her international rowing and job as a social worker. Beccy will be missed and we wish her all the best with her future challenges and ambitions.“
Taking some time away from international rowing:
Helen Glover, one of the most decorated athletes in the GB Rowing Team is stepping away from the team for now to spend more time with her family and pursue some exciting opportunities outside of rowing. She is a double Olympic Champion, three times world champion and double European champion and inspired thousands in 2021 when she became the first woman to return to the GB Rowing Team and compete at an Olympics for Team GB after having children.
Polly Swann, World and European champion and 2016 Rio Olympics Silver medallist is taking a break from the programme to focus on her medical career. She is back in her hometown of Edinburgh where she is working for the NHS as a full-time doctor for the next year.
Oliver (Ollie) Cook, Tokyo 2020 Olympian, is a World and European Champion and 2017 Boat Race winner for Oxford. He is taking a break from international rowing and returning to Oxford where he is working as Programme Manager of Oxford University’s Sustainable Development Impact Lab. The Lab is a ground-breaking initiative that combines university research with real life sustainable challenges.
