STRATFORD-upon-Avon rower Esme Booth came away from the European Championships with a hard-earned silver medal at Laked Bled in Slovenia.
Booth formed part of an eight-strong GB squad alongside Emily Ford, Lauren Irwin, Karen Bennett, Sam Redgrave, Hattie Taylor, Annie Campbell-Orde and cox Henry Fieldman.
And the team won silver in the eight race as they finished more than seven seconds behind gold medal winners Romania in a time of 6 minutes 8.01 secs.
Booth said: “I thought I was going to be so tired at the end of it but I think the adrenaline got me through it.
“We’re learning again this year how to take on the project. Last year the pair was the focus and the eight was the thing on the side, but we’re taking it as 50:50 at the moment and learning as we go.
“I actually felt okay on the start line of the eight, when you’ve got something else to do, you don’t let yourself listen to how you’re feeling.
“You’ve got another job to do. I think the adrenaline carried us through the second race, it’s a good stake in the ground and hopefully we can step on from here.”
In the eight final, Britain led through the first 500m before Romania stormed clear over the remainder of the 2km course.
However, Britain held off a strong challenge from Italy to claim silver as Booth, Ford, Redgrave and Irwin all claimed a second medal in the event having matched their achievement from last year.
Booth also raced in the pairs event with Ford as the duo finished fifth having claimed silver in last year’s edition in Munich, Germany.
Her next focus will be September’s World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia where boats can achieve qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
British Rowing is the governing body for the sport and is responsible for the development of rowing in England and the training and selection of rowers to represent Great Britain. The GB Rowing Team is supported by the National Lottery Sports Fund. To find out more, and to follow the team, head to https://www.britishrowing.org/
