Hi there, I suppose the best way for me to kick this off is to introduce myself. I’m Gus Mckechnie a veteran of Southampton Institute and also a rower for the Institute.

This year I’m setting myself a physical challenge, which will include hopefully rowing around the Isle of Wight as part of a crew. This will be preceded by a marathon and followed by the Boston (Lincolnshire) rowing marathon.

The first reason is to raise a lot of money for charity. The charity in question is the ‘Lisa Wilson’ scholarship fund. She was a graduate from Southampton Institute who sadly passed away while travelling in Australia in November 2002.

Lisa Wilson

Her family who I have become honoured to know, set up a scholarship fund in her name and so far have raised £50,000 pounds. A fantastic amount in such a short space of time. The fund supports students who really deserve the chance to go to university but can’t afford it.

For me though there are number of other reasons which are very important. From autumn of 2002 to the autumn of 2004, our family lost four members. My great uncle, father, one of my brothers and my grandmother.

The two, which were probably the hardest to understand, were the deaths of my father Ian and my brother Andrew.

My Dad’s career in Naval aviation was far from ordinary. In 1967 he piloted an assignment to napalm bomb the stricken tanker Torrey Canyon and to contain the dangerous torrent of oil caused when it ran aground off Land’s end. She was carrying 120,000 gallons of oil at the time.

Then in 1972 he headed the rescue of 72 people from a Turkish destroyer, sunk by friendly fire during the Cyprus war. After a tough mission in extremely stormy conditions, he was eventually given the Turkish Distinguished Service medal for his efforts. The only foreign person to receive that award.

Gus (far right) at a rowing competition last year in Nottingham

Closer to home he dealt with the emotional and painful aftermath following the deaths of four seamen when the trawler Antares was sunk by the nuclear submarine Trenchant in 1990. He was also very active in the local community in Scotland and combined with his Naval career was rewarded with an OBE for his efforts.

While I had been rebellious against a number of his wishes, I have followed in some of his footsteps and I’m currently student volunteer co-ordinator for Southampton Institute.

My brother Andrew passed away in August 2003 after losing his battle against a genetic condition called Haemachromatosis. Unfortunately when Andrew had heard six years earlier about the condition he pushed the self-destruct button and couldn’t control it.

I’m tested on a regular basis for the same condition, as sometime in the future it will fully develop in me. Knowing this in advance has meant that I have been able to look after myself and enjoy life to the full.

Gus (right) taking part in the Southern indoor grand prix at the institute last year.

By doing the physical challenge I will be able to demonstrate to anyone that you can control your own fate. He left two sons behind who were five and six at the time of death, who definitely need to understand this.

So far in my life I have achieved a number of accolades including playing for the Great Britain Junior American Football team in 1994. The motivation to do so began when Southampton Neurological unit told me that I would never be able to participate in sport again after an accident at 16 years-old.

After having to focus on Andrew’s illness and grief for so long, I’m eager to prove what I’m capable of.

So there it is the reason who, what, when and why - I hope you survived and it wasn’t too heavy going. After the next eight months hopefully all aimed for will be achieved, who knows?

Steadily over the next couple of months a training diary for the row round the Isle of Wight will be built up featuring others and myself. It will feature news about my progress and how I’m fitting everything around the rest of my life, so covering some of the laughter and fun stuff as well!