Joanna Rowsell: In Pursuit of Her Dreams This time last year Joanna Rowsell was a promising youngster on the British Cycling Olympic Academy Programme, destined for a huge future in the sport, but little did she know that the ‘future’ was only a year away. At the 2008 World Track Cycling Championships in Manchester Rowsell became World Champion in the Women’s Team Pursuit with team-mates Rebecca Romero and Wendy Houvenaghel, in what was her first outing in the senior team. Most Nineteen year olds could only dream of riding in a World Championships, let alone becoming World Champion at her first attempt. However for Joanna this dream had been a target for some time “The Team Pursuit World Championships was a target for me from the start of the winter and despite not riding a competitive team pursuit together before the race day, the target was always to win” 
Rowsell takes Bronze at the Manchester World Cup in October last year When the 2008/09 season began after the Beijing Olympic Games at the Manchester World Cup in October, now a World Champion, Rowsell was under pressure to perform in front of the capacity home crowd who now expected the same dominant performance that her team-mates produced in Beijing, from all of the British Cycling team. However this did not phase Joanna as she went on to produce two fantastic performances to claim the Bronze Medal from German Charlotte Becker in the Individual Pursuit, and follow that up with Gold in the Team Pursuit with Lizzie Armitstead and Katie Colclough in 3m 26.904s, the fourth fastest time ever for the event “The success of the team in Beijing was a great inspiration but I don’t really feel extra pressure as a result of it. Most of the pressure I put on myself to achieve my own targets as opposed to pressure put on me by anyone else.” A month later and Joanna was in Melbourne at the next round of the World Cup, this time she took the Gold medal ahead of promising Australian youngster Josephine Tomic to become World Cup leader, before again teaming up with Armitstead and Colclough to take the Gold in the Team Pursuit “I didn’t expect to be wearing the World Cup leader’s jersey for the individual pursuit and to have won the round in Melbourne!” 
Joanna shows incredible dedication Despite not competing at the Cali and Beijing rounds of the World Cup, Rowsell was able to claim the overall title for the event at the final round of the series in Copenhagen last month after taking another Bronze medal. She also won the Team Pursuit again meaning the British trio claimed the overall title for that event as well. A year later and Joanna Rowsell is a household name in the World of Track Cycling after probably one of the best debut seasons ever “My individual pursuiting has come on a lot in the last year after a good season on the road getting stronger combined with the team pursuit work on the track. But I didn’t expect the progression to be as much as it has been and hopefully I can continue improving this year!” Joanna got into cycling in 2004 when the South East Talent Team came to visit her school 
Rowsell will be looking for more World Titles in Poland “I went on camps once a month and tried out all the different cycling disciplines: Mountain Biking, Track, BMX, Cycle Speedway, Grass Track, Road and Cyclo Cross” “I started with no knowledge of cycling and was just beginning to learn about the differences between the different disciplines but with all the Talent Team camps I’d tried out everything after my first year.” In comparison with the other riders on the Talent Team, Rowsell had no racing experience, so everything was quite daunting, however it wasn’t long before she was ready for racing and in 2006 her results were rewarded with a place in the Olympic Development Programme So from the beginning Joanna has always progressed quickly, despite the challenges she has faced, but can she move on from such a successful first year as a senior rider and continue to improve? “I discussed my goals with my coach back in October and for the winter the target is the Individual Pursuit at the Track World Championships in Poland and also to defend the Team Pursuit World Title.” With that in mind, how does Joanna train for such goals? 
2008/09 World Cup Individual Pursuit Champion Joanna Rowsell “Most days I do two training sessions. During a road block that would usually consist of 2 x 2 hour rides or during a track block usually a morning track session (starting as early as 8am) and afternoon on the road or occasionally double track sessions.” Her road rides consist of either long steady rides or split days consisting of two shorter rides done at a higher intensity either in the UK or at the British Cycling training base in Mallorca. On the track Rowsell works through Team Pursuit efforts, both rolling and standing, concentrating on starts, finishes and changes with the rest of the squad. “Some of this will be above race pace and sometimes working on pace judgement. I don’t currently do any gym sessions but I do core work at home which I’ve found to be very important.” Due to the lack of riders the women’s Olympic Academy Programme has been slower to develop than the men’s, however with the emergence of riders like Rowsell, Armitstead, Colclough, Alex Greenfield and Lucy Martin, British Cycling are able to implement a system similar to the Men, which is paying dividends for everybody concerned. This expanded setup will allow British Cycling to send a Women’s Road team to Belgium for the summer to compete, before targeting the European Road Championships there in July. “I’m keen to move forward on the road and I think the set up we have this year, which is more similar to how the boy’s Academy has been run, will allow me to do this.” 
World Team Pursuit Champions Romero, Houvenaghel and Rowsell The European Track Championships will see the opening of the new Velodrome in Minsk, Belarus and this also is a target for Rowsell as she looks for yet more success. Joanna is already an inspiration to many of people throughout the country and the perfect role model for any young rider looking for a successful career in sport “I went back to visit my school after the World Championships last year and all the teachers, especially the PE department, were very excited to hear about the Worlds and learn more about what I was doing” The dedication she shows in working towards achieving her goals is incredible, and I do not think British Cycling have ever seen a youngster with such drive and maturity, we certainly haven’t. With Rebecca Romero having a sabbatical and Wendy Houvenaghel nearing the end of her long career, British Cycling need not worry about future success in the Individual Pursuit with Rowsell in the ranks, and who knows maybe she will take pursuiting to a new level in the style of Kiwi legend Sarah Ulmer who holds the Individual Pursuit World Record of 3m 24.537s. But does Joanna think that one day she can better this mark? “Definitely!” Velodrome.org.uk will certainly not be betting against her! 
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