Amidst the crowd, she walks serenely great.

Dorney Lake

She said. 'If you really cared then you would know where we were going and how to get the ticket.' 
'But you know this.' I said, 'so just tell me where we're going and we'll be on our way.'

'Dad is like that.' said Carmen, 'There's nothing you can do about it, so calm down and deal with it.' 
I had to take my daughter to a rowing competition at Eton yesterday and she was harrying me into leaving on time. I only had a vague notion of where we were going: Windsor and Eton Riverside. 

'Well then we should go to Twickenham and change there.'

'No. We're going to Clapham Junction and changing there.' said Eve, who is almost 15.

Everything went like clockwork, but it was an expensive journey because of the Taxi we had to take in Windsor. I hadn't seen Eton before. It was Sunday, but a few of the older boys were about and they were dressed in their coat and tails with their bow ties. 

'They look like they should be giving piano recitals.' said Eve. 

As we drove past the entrance I saw a group of Eton boys. One boy stood out. He was very tall, blond and with an aquiline nose. His face tilted up, laughing. The magic of entitlement was working.
The buildings were pretty. Red bricked and chimney stacked. It was like a little town. 'They own a lot of the land round here.' said the taxi driver.

Dorney Lake was built by the college about ten years ago when things got too crowded at the river. It's a lake designed for rowing competitions. It's impressive, it's a few kilometres long and has two channels, one wider than the other. At one end is a large boathouse.  

'I could take a job in Saudi Arabia in Aramco.' I said to Eve. 'They would pay for you to go to a private school, Westminster perhaps, the only problem is that I would have to abandon some of my principles.' 

'Abandon them then, Dad.' She said, looking out of the window at the school. 

In truth, Eve has a fearsome sense of what is right and wrong. She stands up to any and every bully, she is top of every set and good at most sports, especially basketball, but she is a touch – how shall I put this – esurient for life. 

Eve boated and I went for lunch and took out my book and started to read.

'Arms, and the man I sing, who, forc'd by fate...

My head rested on the padded back of my rucksack, my back pressed into the stony grassy bank - the sun shone from behind the book. 

The double sculls rowed past. Parents shouting from the edge of the artificial lake. Cyclists riding on either shore, keeping up. It was windy.

‘… the surges sweep,Raise liquid mountains, and disclose the deep.South, East, and West with mix'd confusion roar,And roll the foaming billows to the shore.’

I stood up. Eve and her crew were approaching in the second lane. They wore the red and white horizontal stripes of Kingston Rowing club and red caps. They looked very neat as they rowed in unison. 

'Kingston come on.' I put my book down, stood up slowly and continued, bellowing. 
'Come on Kingston. Come on. More power. More effort.'

They were a few lengths behind the leader and catching up. Second place. Into the final. 
At the clubhouse Eve was flushed and happy.

 'The next race is at three.' she said.'Can I have something to eat.' 

'Remember your packed lunch.'

 I had roasted a chicken and cut up the breasts filled the tupperware with green olives and half a lemon. Another box with salad. 

'Oh yes.'

Back on the bank, a little colder now. No. The sun is coming out again. The crews started out again, chased by a boat with the umpire on it and on the other side an orange rescue boat just in case something went wrong. This was safer than the Thames.

'Fierce Boreas drove against his flying sails,And rent the sheets; the raging billows rise,And mount the tossing vessels to the skies:Nor can the shiv'ring oars sustain the blow;The galley gives her side, and turns her prow;While those astern, descending down thI glanced up and looked at the e steep, Thro' gaping waves behold the boiling deep.

I squint at Dorney lake. But the water just sits there, lapping.It must be time. I stood up. Peered at the starting line. No, they were lining up, but this wasn’t their race. A rescue helicopter, yellow and black clattered overhead for a minute and then moved off.

A false start. Is this Eve’s race. No. Yes. The final. I stand up an start bellowing again.

'Fight Kingston! You can do it. Come on! Push! Come on! You are catching up! Fight!'

They come in third. Eve’s very happy. The phone rings. Tere wants news. Eve wants to tell Chicks, who rows for UCL medical school. 

'Chicks, guess who’s giving out the medals, an Olympic gold medalist. 'He’s a giant.' she says over the phone. Affirmed, she tells me we must wait for the medal ceremony before we go home. I sit down again at a table in the rather grotty café.

At the medal ceremony I meet the coach, Chris, and josh him.

'What's happening to my daughter? Her shoulders are growing broader.'

The coach smiles and comments favourably, encouragingly.

I tell Eve what he said when I see her, but she doesn't believe me.' 

'Can I have a T shirt Dad?' 

'Of course you can.' 

We get a T-shirt and wait for the medal ceremony. Eve has a transfer printed onto the shirt. Her name is there amongst the others. On the front she has a picture of a rower in blue and silver, on the shoulder a set of oars. The T-shirt is beautiful, clean and white.

In the taxi, on the way back back I say. 

'You should read this Eve. It’s great. The battle scenes are tremendous. Everyone’s looted from Virgil. Reading this is like walking into a police lock-up and finding stolen property.' 
'But it’s not about women. They are all men.' 

'Well there’s Dido.' I said.

'Known by her quiver, and her lofty mien, She walks majestic, and she looks their queen; Latona sees her shine above the rest, And feeds with secret joy her silent breast. Such Dido was; with such becoming state,Amidst the crowd, she walks serenely great.'

I loved sharing the experience of rowing with my daughter and loud mouthing from the sidelines, but I'm in Saudi now, with Aramco, so it's going to be a little more difficult from now on.
At home I tell Carmen about the visit to Eton. She smiles.

'Their debating society came to our school she said. But before they came the person running it told us that his students would only come if we could guarantee that at least ten of them would win prizes. That was 75% of all the prizes. We had people who were better.

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