On Saturday 10 October, Olivia, selected to row for Dorset, took part in the National County Championships in Plymouth. The prestigious event is one of the highlights of the Cornish Pilot Gig racing calendar, bringing together squads from counties across the UK to compete in a range of age categories.
Olivia first rowed in the U16 event, where Dorset and Cornwall were neck and neck until the Cornish crew pulled ahead in the final moments. There was no time to rest, however. Olivia went straight back out on the water for the U18 event, where she and her Dorset teammates fought hard to secure another brilliant second place.
Both of Olivia’s races were over an adult course, and only a very small number of rowers across the whole competition took part in back-to-back events, which highlights just how impressive her two medals really are.
Olivia has been rowing for nearly four years, and the championships marked the end of her third full regatta season. She rows with Weymouth Rowing Club, based in Weymouth harbour, and can be found out at sea in a gig boat most Saturdays. This season she has also rowed with the senior ladies and U25 teams, and she is now training with the Weymouth ladies team as well as their juniors.
Back at Leweston, Olivia has drawn on her skill and knowledge of the sport for her GCSE BTEC Sport project work, and hopes to develop this further at a more advanced level in Sixth Form. She has also been part of the school Dragon Boat Team in the past, and more recently contributed an impressive number of miles on the school rowing machine towards the ACTA2 Alliance UK Bath to Boston fundraiser.
Joining Olivia on the water at Queen Anne’s Battery was Head of Sixth Form, Mr Ryan-East, who was completing his second full regatta season in his Dorset kit. Competing in the Vets category against the likes of Devon, Cornwall, Essex and Derbyshire, he came home with a hard-fought third place and a medal to mark the occasion.
Feeling a little sore by Monday, Mr R-E plans to take a week off rowing before returning to winter training, with the 2027 season set to begin with the World Championships in May.
Congratulations to both Olivia and Mr R-E on a fantastic weekend of racing!