Lauren’s Journey written by her coach, Howard Marsh:
We are thrilled to announce that Lauren Henry from Leicester Rowing Club and her crew – Hannah Scott, Lola Anderson, and Georgie Brayshaw – have won Olympic GOLD in the Women’s Quadruple Sculls (W4x) at the Paris Olympics. Winning by the narrow margin of just 0.15 of a second, about 35cm! This incredible achievement is the culmination of years of hard work, dedication, and determination.
“Wow, that was a tremendous race. You really came back strongly; your determination and drive to get over the line first was fantastic. You really stayed in the race well and pushed and pushed, you never gave up! Amazingly well done!”
You could be forgiven for thinking that this was the response to Lauren after she won Olympic gold. However, this was some eight years earlier, the first ever race I coached Lauren in when she was a J14 sculler at Peterborough Summer Regatta in 2016.
Could you tell then that there was a future Olympic Champion in our midst? Certainly there were many of the basic ingredients – determination, an ability to work hard – a real will to win – to never give up! However, anyone who thinks that it has been a straightforward journey from J14 singles at Peterborough in 2016 to the Paris Olympics in 2024 will be disappointed. The trend has been upwards, but there have also been some hard-hitting lows as well. It just shows Lauren’s strength of character that she has kept fighting, kept her dream burning, kept pushing onwards, kept making progress. I’d like to share a few of the highs that have been an absolute privilege for me to witness.
Lauren’s journey with us began eight years ago, and for six and a half of those years, I had the very great privilege of coaching her. Over this time, she has not only grown as an athlete but also inspired everyone around her. Here are some of the many highs from Lauren’s rowing career:
2016 Peterborough Summer Regatta
A tremendously gutsy row saw her win Women’s J14A 1x by 7 seconds beating the silver medallist at the JIRR regatta.
2018 British Rowing Junior Championships
A very mature scull in the final of the Women’s J16 1x, saw her come through to win by 4 seconds,
Junior Trials February 2019
A tremendous race over the 5k Boston course, used by all the GB squads for winter trialling, resulted in two wins for Lauren over the best of the junior women in GB at the time; by over 20 seconds on the Saturday in her single, and with her doubles partner Liv Morgan from Shiplake, 35 seconds on the Sunday. A truly dominant display.
Henley Women’s Regatta 2019
The combination of Lauren and Liv in the double was outstanding, winning all their races in Aspirational Doubles comfortably and setting a new course record in the final. Remarkable for a junior crew in a senior event.
2019 World Junior Championships – Tokyo
First world championship selection, a tremendous reward for all Laurens hard work. Selected in the 2x With Liv. Things didn’t go as well as we’d all hoped. However Lauren fought hard over the coming years to make her dreams become a reality.
As many will remember, Covid hit during the next year and a half, which put paid to 2020. Lauren took to her static bike in the garage at her home and cranked out several Tour de France mileages over the course of the lockdowns.
“Open” GB Trials May 2021
These were for all athletes not in the GB senior squad. Lauren was the fastest overall women’s trialist, winning the A final, over 2000m, by over 7 seconds.
2021 U23 World U23 Championships
Selected to represent GB at the World U23 Championships in the single sculls at the tender age of just 19. Lauren finished 4th in a very, very strong field. This was the joint highest placing by any female GB single sculler at an U23 championships.
2021 Henley Royal Regatta
Forced to go through the qualification time trials, Lauren did a magnificent job in the international event, The Princess Royal Challenge Cup. In the 2nd round, Lauren, still aged just 19, kept her composure and, despite going down early on, beat the recently crowned Olympic Champion in eights, Andrea Proske. Lauren came through the semi-final beating the 4th placed American trialist. In the final she sculled magnificently, again going down but showing that never-say-die spirit, sprinting hard to the line, and just losing – to her future Olympic teammate Lola Anderson – by just 3 feet. As a 19-year-old, this was truly remarkable.
Senior Trials 2023
Lauren, still training at Leicester Rowing Club, becomes the single sculls winner of the Senior GB Trials, by over 2 seconds. The first time this has ever been achieved by a non‑squad athlete.
On the back of this, Lauren was invited for further selection testing for the full senior squad. The result – bow in the women’s quad.
How the quad grew during the year:
- Bronze at the European Rowing Championships
- Silver at World Cups 2 and 3
- Gold medal at World Championships in September, at just 21!
Since last September, Lauren has been full-time down at Caversham, at the National Training Centre. This year, after an initial blip at the first World Cup, it’s been gold all the way for her and the crew; gold at the Europeans, gold at World Cup 2, and a brilliant, brilliant win to be crowned Olympic Champions!
Lauren, at the tender age of just 22, is believed to be the youngest rower to hold all three crowns at once; European Champion, World Champion and Olympic Champion, in any boat classification, male or female!
