2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (Paul Jenkins)
Avon County Rowing Club’s Finnola Stratton helped her country win a bronze medal at the 2024 Under-23 World Rowing Championships. Teaming up with Meg Knight, Lily Abbott, and Ellie Cooke, Stratton was part of a crew that narrowly missed setting a new world record for the under-23 quad sculls event. Reflecting on the race, Stratton said: "We knew a medal was possible from the moment we got in the boat in July, but you can never be certain until you cross the finish line.
" Romania and Poland took the top two spots, both breaking the previous under-23 world best time, while the British crew finished just a second behind. Stratton’s rise through the sport has been remarkable. She began sculling at Avon County Rowing Club in Saltford under coaches Penny Senior and Chris Hopper.
A Wellsway School pupil at the time, she made her first outing at the club by crashing into a moored narrowboat, but she quickly progressed, setting a world record for the 100m sprint on a rowing machine for her age group. Stratton added: "The standard of rowing was phenomenal, and I am so proud to have competed at such a high-level event. Making even a small mistake could have cost us a medal, so our focus was on holding onto third place, especially in those last 20 strokes.
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