Image Credit: British Rowing
Last year’s U19 world championships proved to be a historical regatta for the junior women, with every female athlete bringing home a medal, including a tightly-fought gold in this boat class. The task has been bestowed on two returning medalists, albeit from different boat classes, to retain the title, strengthened by the teachings of Helen Taylor that helped deliver a silver for the coxless four in 2023. A year on from premier performances, a medal is well within this crew’s reach, and when the British double has reached the podium, it has only ever been the very top – a legacy this double will be racing to uphold in Canada.
Olivia Cheesmur, Molesey Boat Club (J18)
Liv Cheesmur caps off her junior career at her seconds world championships, having also previously raced internationally at Coupe de la Jeunesse as a J16 and appearing twice at Munich International Regatta, covering every sculling boat along the way. She’s formed a key part of successful quads for Molesey and Great Britain on several occasions, notably taking bronze in both Paris last year and Munich just months ago (the latter alongside crewmate Violet Holbrow-Brooksbank) but it’s her astonishing power-weight ratio that gives Cheesmur such skill with two blades. A two-time national champion and winner of February trials in this boat class, Liv’s last international escapades in the double yielded victory in Munich last year with Holbrow-Brooksbank’s teammate Lily Martin. With more experience than ever and a stellar junior career behind her, there is little doubt Cheesmur will be able to match the standard of last year’s golden boat.
Violet Holbrow-Brooksbank, Wycliffe College (J18)
Though last year’s world championships saw Holbrow-Brooksbank bring home silver with one less blade, she will arrive in Canada as one of Britain’s best junior scullers off the back of an unbeaten domestic season in Wycliffe’s now iconic quad. Violet and her crewmates achieved the triple this season with what on the surface looked like relative ease: knowing the work and discipline that goes into any boat of that standard, she’ll have developed maturity in her racing and strength in her stroke that will complement the double perfectly and only be amplified on the world stage. Though no international race this season has yet to quite match the heights of her domestic dominance or last year’s silver in the coxless four, with a bronze for the quad and fourth place for the double in Munich, Violet’s reunion with coach Helen Taylor of Molesey will maximise the potential of what is sure to be a highly competitive crew.
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