Once upon a time, many years ago, I grew up in England. It was where I went to school during the '50s and early '60s. England, especially it seems where I lived, was very conservative, and if you didn't fit into the mould, you simply didn't belong. This was as evident on the sports field as it was in the classroom and everyday life.

At school in winter we were made to play hockey and netball (a sort of basketball); and our summer sports consisted of track and field, rounders (a sort of baseball), and tennis.

Ball sports: forget it –– no hand/eye co-ordination.

Track and field: I can trip over a match stick, so any attempt at running was doomed to failure from the start. Plus, amazingly, no-one ever taught us how to breath, so after a short attempt at running, I'd break down, winded.

High jump: You think someone as tall as me could do this –– but no. I'd always fall into the bar instead of jumping over it. Plus my legs were designed more for power and not long and lean; they are long and solid!!

Long jump: that involves running –– bad news

Swimming: there was very little opportunity to swim, but whenever they did put me in the water I’d sink like a stone –– I was scared of it. Nasty wet stuff, if you ask me, but wonderful to look at from a distance.

It was so bad that whenever my class was taking sport, the buzz would go round: "Tina's out on the track let’s go and have a laugh."

Imagine, then, a tall lanky girl, with virtually no self confidence, and apparently no sporting ability trying to make it in the popularity stakes. Believe me, it just didn't happen.

So my life went on. I managed to convince myself (without trying too hard) that I hated sport, and I immersed myself in books and music, and any attempt at fitness activity was always done behind closed doors where no-one could see what sort of a fool I was making of myself.

Then, in my mid 40s I met and married Wayne Gallasch, and my life began a slow transformation. He introduced me to weight training, and whilst I would really like to say I became a bodybuilder overnight, it would be lying, so I won't. But I did flirt with the weights off and on for a few years –– almost always by myself, because I still didn't believe that I could actually do something "sporty," even though I am naturally strong.

The final metamorphosis took place late last year when Wayne and I visited Clarence and Carol Bass in Albuquerque to shoot a video on Clarence, his lifestyle and sporting achievements.

It just so happened that Clarence has a Concept 2 rower in his aerobics room. And I hopped on it to have a go. By this time in my life (55 years old) I wasn't so concerned about looking an idiot as I was when I was younger. Age has a wonderful smoothing affect on one's self esteem.

And I found I could row –– quite spontaneously. I didn't have to learn the style, it just happened for me, with a few very minor adjustments. So that was that –– we went home to Adelaide again, and rowing went to the back of my mind, but because of various other factors involved with the Bass visit, I started to seriously train with weights in our own home gym, alongside Wayne.

Then we visited Albuquerque again, and because it was a reasonably long visit, Wayne and I continued our weight training at the Liberty Gym. And it just so happens that they have Concept 2 rowers. By this time Clarence had told us all about the on-line ranking system on the Concept 2 website, and so we decided to have a go. And my very first 500m row gave me a time of 2:14:7. No warm up, no training, no nothing –– just a straight out row, and I discovered that this was a reasonably respectable time that actually ranked me in the top 20 on the Concept 2 site for my weight and age. I was ecstatic to say the least! It's not often you see an overweight middle-aged woman punching the air, and shouting .... YES!!

And –– to quote a television advert –– there's more, much more. My weight has dropped from a very solid post-menopausal 83 Kg (183lb) to a much healthier 72.5 Kg (160lb) at a height of 175cm or 5’ 9". Because I desperately want to train well, my alcohol consumption has dropped from a couple of glasses of wine a day to just one glass every Saturday night; and Wayne and I eat a very clean and healthy diet, again based on Clarence's whole food philosophy. I read all I can about rowing training, weight training and nutrition because I'm now acting as rowing coach for Wayne, who has entered the British Indoor Rowing Championships this coming November. Put it all in a nutshell: rowing has changed my life –– thanks to Clarence.

And so that’s how it all happened, and I can say from that first visit to Albuquerque, this 56 year old rower has lived happily ever after, getting rowing times that are better and better (1.58.2 for the 500m; and 8.49.6 for 2000m), and really, seriously, enjoying the training.

If there is any moral to this little fairy tale (and there always has to be a moral in a fairy tale), it would have to be never give up on yourself. You really have to keep an open mind, and if an opportunity comes along, just have a go –– it might change your life.