Brooke, with 10 month old Keira, and Lucy and seven month old Rupert have taken the rowing world by storm with their commitment to getting back on the water and into international competition so soon after the arrival of their babies.
Much has been written about the post-partum high performance feats of the rowers but for Brooke, Lucy and the HPSNZ health performance support team it has been the uniqueness of the challenge and the limited medical data available to support the women’s return to international elite rowing that has made this a voyage of discovery.
Brooke and Lucy have made their return to world class rowing via two different routes. For Lucy, the path followed her ground-breaking and well-documented training programme well into her pregnancy whereas Brooke took a year off rowing while pregnant.
“I felt I needed a mental break from rowing so I took a year off to not only have a break but to also enjoy my pregnancy,” says Brooke. “However once Keira arrived, a happy and healthy baby, I knew I had more to give to rowing.”
The journey to get selected into the double scull boat with fellow mum, Lucy, for the recent World Cup regatta In Lucerne, has been paved with stories of support from Rowing NZ, HPSNZ, their fellow rowers and their wider whānau and community.
Among their many supporters, Brooke singles out the work of the nutrition team, led by HPSNZ Head of Performance Nutrition Christel Dunshea-Mooij and rowing performance nutritionist Julia Bone, as well as HPSNZ Female Athlete Health Doctor, Dr Helen Fulcher.
Fuelling properly is critically important for all athletes, but the nutrition requirements of a breastfeeding, high performance training and competing rower adds a whole additional layer says Christel.
“We worked very closely with Brooke and Lucy throughout their pregnancies and then when they were ready to get back into full on training with their sights set on qualifying a boat through a World Cup regatta and the World Championships,” says Christel.
The first focus for the nutrition team was a dietary analysis to help them understand the calorie requirements, especially with the added calorie cost of breastfeeding. “We aimed to analyse the energy cost of training sessions, often two a day, of breastfeeding and of daily living.
“The big question for us was did the energy cost match their consumption. We had to analyse their macro nutrient consumptions – carbs, proteins and fats which provide the most calories. We also checked they were consuming sufficient micronutrients, particularly calcium and iron, to meet their multiple demands. In Brooke’s case, there was the extra consideration of her vegetarian diet.”
Christel says the HPSNZ nutrition team worked closely with Helen and other HPSNZ support team members including physiologist Stephen Fenemor, physiotherapist Isobel Freeman, and S&C coach, Caleb Dobbs, to develop a collective response to Brooke and Lucy’s shared health performance.
“Collectively we worked on the big unknown of what do we need to know to get and keep Brooke and Lucy in the boat. While both women are very knowledgeable, we were also breaking new ground for post-partum rowers.
“We had a reasonable body of information from post-partum athletes in netball and rugby sevens but very limited evidence to inform our planning for rowing which, due to its power and endurance requirements, is quite different from most other sports.”
As the women’s health doctor for Brooke and Lucy, Helen says an important starting point for her was the critical understanding that athletes may also want to be mums. “We know many female athletes reach a point in their career when they are thinking about parenthood. We also need to recognise that the two are not mutually exclusive. The optimal fertility period for female athletes may well coincide with their period of peak performance and competitive activity.”
“It was very apparent we needed to recognise the importance of individualising the support and care for each woman,” says Helen.
“Just as their fertility, pregnancy, delivery and post-partum journeys have been individual and ever changing, so too was the type of support we provided Brooke and Lucy. This involved delivering standard pregnancy and post-partum care, that every woman needs, as well as well as more specific advocacy, health promotion and sports medicine work to make sure that any potentially significant health issues were picked up and addressed early.”
Helen and Christel are united in their praise for the journey Brooke and Lucy have undertaken. “It is a privilege to support these strong wāhine in elite sport through a new journey of pregnancy and parenthood.”
And for Brooke and Lucy it’s knowing they have such amazing sounding boards as Helen and Christel who have been there for them over and above their respective performance health disciplines. “Their support has been quite frankly invaluable,” says Brooke.
