I'm writing this from Rio de Janeiro, where I now am for the next two months to work as a sports writer for the Olympic News Service. I suspect I won't have a huge amount of time to spend on blogging about the Games as I'll be writing about them, but I'll try to keep an eye on the sort of coverage the female athletes get compared to their male counterparts.

I'm thinking about this at the moment for a couple of reasons. Last week Serena Williams won her seventh Wimbledon title, while Andy Murray won his second (and fourth Grand Slam). Williams got a fair amount of coverage but in the UK clearly the press was biased towards home favourite Murray - and this isn't surprising. The other Brits who won titles last week (Heather Watson in the mixed doubles, Jordanne Whiley in women's wheelchair doubles, Alfie Hewitt and Gordon Reid in men's wheelchair doubles and Gordon Reid in men's wheelchair singles) were relegated to reams of coverage of Murray.

But Williams also caught the headlines last week when she responded to a question at a press conference after winning her Wimbledon semi-final. She was asked if she considered herself as "one of the greatest female athletes" of all time, and replied that she'd rather be considered as "one of the greatest athletes of all time". It's the sort of comment you don't often hear from women, sadly; there's enough studies out there about women in the workplace demonstrating generally we're pretty bad at putting ourselves out and being confident about success. Serena Williams - and her sister Venus - are a fantastic counterpoint to that. They're not afraid to be confidently proud of their achievements and as such are in so many ways the sort of role models the press should be pushing for girls.

But other incredible women barely make any headlines, even when they should. It was only via Facebook a few weeks ago that I learned that a crew of five British women were seeking to break the record for rowing the Atlantic Ocean from New York to the Scilly Isles and Falmouth. They're joining the proud British tradition of ocean rowing (which I blogged a little about in January when the Coxless Crew crossed the Pacific).

The crew of Liberty of Essex, rowing as the Rannoch Women's Challenge, have been hit by adverse weather and they know they won't make the record - but they're on track to become the first British women to row the Atlantic from West to East. The crew all have a bunch of impressive achievements under their belts and are skippered by Olympic silver medallist Guin Batten.

I know Guin a bit as she is a vice-president and longstanding member of my rowing club. In 2011 she jumped into a boat we were trying to qualify for Henley Royal Regatta when we really needed an eighth person; she could have sat back and just rowed and we'd have been grateful but instead, in a fortnight, she brought all her experience to bear with suggestions and encouragement and we made that boat go so much faster as a result. Guin's been the chair of the Women's Eights Head for several years, pushing its profile and prestige. And she umpires races. Oh, and in 2003 she set the record for the fastest crossing of the English Channel in a fine racing shell. If ever there was an example of someone taking what is already a rare accomplishment - the first Olympic medal for British women's rowing - and then going on to achieve so much more, Guin is that person.

There are so many female sporting role models out there. Some, like Serena Williams, do get most of the recognition they deserve. Others, like Guin and her crew aboard Liberty, simply do not. It'll be interesting to see which camp the female Olympians in Rio will fall into. I think I know the answer. I hope I'm proved wrong.