Olivia Hill to race for Great Britain in rowing world championships

The week-long event starts in St Catharines on Sunday and Hill is expected to be sat in the stroke seat of the Team GB under 23s women’s eight boat.

Now listed as an Oxford Brookes University competitor, she started to row with the Howley club on the River Mersey as a junior and raced for them for five years.

This is considered a big stepping stone for Olivia, who is still young for this crew as she was competing as an under 18s junior until this week two years ago.

She is now part of a talented group of under 23s and under 19s athletes looking to develop their championship racing with the aim of becoming Olympians of the future.

Peter Sheppard, GB Rowing Team Head Coach for the Olympic Pathway, said: “With the senior squad now returning from some excellent performances in Paris, many of the under 23s will be representing GB for the first time in Canada and will be taking the opportunity to demonstrate their potential to be future Olympians in either 2028 or 2032.”

Hill’s last race for Warrington as a junior came in August, 2022, when she and Iffy Marinos won silver in the British Junior Rowing Championships under 18s women’s double final at the National Water Sports Centre in Nottingham.

In the same year she was in the club’s junior girls quad with Marinos, Izzy Bate and Ellie Kadir which competed in both Henley Women’s Regatta and Henley Royal Regatta.

From left, Warrington Rowing Club's Izzy Bate, Olivia Hill, Ellie Kadir and Iffy Marinos in the summer of 2022 (Image: Contributed)

Hill started at Oxford Brooke’s University in September, 2023, and she quickly established herself as a talented athlete within the Oxford Brookes set-up.

Oxford Brookes have a reputation for being a centre of excellence and many would say that they are the world’s leading rowing university.

During this past academic year, Hill won the British University Championship and topped that by winning at Henley Royal Regatta.

She was also very successful at the GB senior trials, which ultimately led to her selection for the under 23s Great Britain team.