Dutch Rowing Champions Ilse Paulis and Marieke Kaijser in Crossy's Corner

In the build up to the Rio Olympics where Ilse eventually won Gold with her partner Maaike Head, Marieke Kaijser was in a rival double fighting for the same spot, but now they’re quite literally in the same boat, striving to become Olympic champions in Tokyo.

In this fun packed interview Martin Cross gets to know Ilse and Marieke, learns what the (very simple) secret to the success of the Dutch rowing team is, they discuss why Rotterdam is better than Amsterdam, how they’re feeling about the prospect of no more lightweight rowing beyond and why it’s OK that Ilse’s fiancé’s idea of a romantic holiday is racing one another through the mountains on their bikes!

This video is the first in a series of three.