In the second year of the 1997-2000 Olympiad, the GB women’s rowing team reaped the rewards of training together as a group, full time, and funded by the National Lottery. 

They won two gold medals at the World Championships for the first time, of which Gillian Lindsay and Miriam Batten‘s success in the double sculls was particularly significant as it was the first win in an Olympic boat class and also the first in openweight sculling.

With the openweight pair of Cath Bishop and Dot Blackie winning silver too, things were looking very good at the top of the GB squad, but Guin Batten was disappointed to finish sixth in the single sculls after struggling in rough water, and neither the eight nor the quad made their finals.

Read out all about 1998 here >>

The photo at the top of this page shows Gillian Lindsay and Miriam Batten approaching the finishing line to become the first British openweight World Champions in a sculling event and is from Miriam Luke’s personal collection.