“Big Olympic ambitions” for Ruth Walczak

Ruth Walczak and Imogen Walsh took bronze in the European Rowing Championships held in Italy at Lake Varese near Milan

24-year-old Rochdale rower Ruth Walczak is the latest local sports star to bring medal honours back to her home town. Together with her rowing-partner Imogen Walsh, she took bronze in this year’s European Rowing Championships held in Italy at Lake Varese near Milan.

This is not the first time that Ruth has achieved international success. She represented Great Britain as a Junior at the Coupe de Jeunesse and in 2005, she won gold in the single sculls and took another gold the following year in the double sculls.

Father, Gary, who travelled to Italy to celebrate his daughter’s success, said that he was “proud and delighted” with Ruth’s latest win.

Ruth, a former pupil of Wardle High School, began her rowing career as a member of the Hollingworth Lake Rowing Club as part of British Rowing’s ‘Oarsome’ scheme together with her twin sister Lucy. She now rows for the Molesey Boat Club.

She recently graduated from St Martin’s College of Art and Design in London, where she studied product design.

She now lives in Moseley but can only work part-time because of her rigorous training schedule.

She largely funds herself but has also received some sponsorship money from Link for Life and from her former university.

Speaking to Rochdale Online, Ruth said that she had “a really good time in Italy” and that having her parents there had really helped and encouraged her.

Ruth told us that she has “really big Olympic ambitions” and that doing well in the European Championships had been a very important and positive step in that direction.

She described the finals as being “very demanding” and said that Italy, the winners, had only been 4 seconds outside the world record.

The final was held the day after her 24th birthday.

Ruth is left with very little time to rest on her laurels as her next race will be in London in October.

Ruth’s twin sister Lucy also rows at international level despite being an insulin-dependent diabetic.

The Walczak twins are not the first members of their family to know what it is like to battle for honours abroad. Their Polish grandfather, Josef, flew dozens of missions in both Hurricanes and Spitfires during World War II and married his wife Marian, a Rochdale girl, in 1943.

The Walczak twins named two of their early boats ‘Hurricane’ and ‘Spitfire’ in his honour and his wartime log-books take pride of place in the family home in Shawclough.