BLOCKING out anything to do with Tokyo 2020 and the pandemic on Twitter was the only option for rower Hattie Taylor after becoming fed up with the uncertainty around the Olympics.

But while the past 18 months has provided countless obstacles, the 27-year-old believes the rowing team have come out the other side stronger and more unified than ever before.

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Taylor has been confirmed as part of the 45-strong rowing squad for Team GB this summer, joining Rowan McKellar, Karen Bennett and Rebecca Shorten in the women’s four.

Having taken drastic steps to cull the negativity on her social media feeds, the Sunningdale star feels ready to continue British Rowing’s medal-laden history in Japan.

“I think after the disruption this last year, it’s been easier to block it on Twitter - you can block key words like Tokyo, Covid stuff and whatever the specific words are,” she said.

“I just don’t see it and at first I found I actually liked knowing what’s going on but then when it’s so up and down, when it’s so disruptive, I was like, ‘Nah, I can’t have this anymore’.

“I just decided to block it all, I didn’t want to see it at all, just to really help me zone in with training which has helped. We weren’t told to but I think a few have been anti-social media.

“Everyone’s shared experience of the past year, year-and-half that it’s been has just brought everyone so much closer together, even at the point where we had to split up.

“We barely saw the men’s team for four or five months and when you finally get back together, it’s just like the big band’s back together, everyone’s supporting each other, cheering each other on.”

Taylor, who won European and World Cup II bronze as part of the women’s eight in 2019, is one of over 1,000 athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme.

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It’s that programme that allows her to train full-time, access the best coaches and benefit from pioneering technology, science and medical support.

Having made her senior GB debut in 2017, Taylor explained how the group dynamic in rowing was one of main positives of the pandemic as the whole team pulled together as one.

“I think everyone feels quite comfortable and also understands after the year that everyone’s had that those conversations are really necessary in order to move forward,” added Taylor, who is hoping to add to the 864 Olympic and Paralympic medals won by Great Britain and Northern Ireland athletes since the advent of National Lottery funding in 1997.

“There’s only so much training and rowing you can get done together. To find that next level is having those conversations, being open and honest about things that are difficult or emotional.

“I think that really started over lockdown where people were struggling, I was struggling with training and motivation, and you open up and find other people are feeling the same way.”

The lack of racing ahead of the Games means there is also an element of the unknown about the competition in Tokyo but Taylor insists her quartet are only focused on themselves.

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“The women’s four has had similar results the last four years. The Aussies are quick, the US will be quick and then other medallists from 2019 will be racing a couple of times now,” she said.

“I feel it’s really weird to go into an Olympic year not having raced probably half the people that we’re going to end up racing in a few weeks’ time, but there’s nothing we can do about it.

“That’s out of our control and we can’t really think about how fast they’re going, we’d rather put our energy into focusing on how fast we’re going, otherwise you take away from your own project.

“[There’s no point] stressing about what other people are doing because as long as we make sure we go quick and turn up at the heat, then we’ll see what happens.”

No one does more to support our Olympic and Paralympic athletes than National Lottery players, who raise around £30 million each week for good causes. 

Discover the positive impact playing the National Lottery has on sport at www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk and get involved by using the hashtags: #TNLAthletes #TracktoTokyo