Becky Wilde named as Female Olympic Athlete of the Year as Bath rowers past and present impress at GB Rowing Team Selection Trials
It was a successful weekend for University of Bath-based rowers past and present when they contested the 2025 GB Rowing Team Senior and U23 Selection Trials at Caversham.
And there was another magical moment for Paris 2024 medallist Becky Wilde when she was named as rowing‘s BOA Female Olympic Athlete of the Year during the post-event presentation ceremony.
Four current members of the South West Performance Development Academy (PDA), formerly known as the GB Rowing Team Start programme, were in action as they represented the PDA’s two host clubs, University of Bath RC (Crew Bath) and Minerva Bath RC.
Josh Knight and Sports Performance student Will Stradling placed sixth in the Men’s Double Sculls (M2x) time trial and then progressed through the semi-finals to the B Final, where they delivered a strong race to finish second and secure an impressive overall ranking of seventh.
Bill Whiteley Sporting Scholar Ella Fullman and Rebekah Court, who study Civil Engineering and Sport & Exercise Science respectively, also advanced to the B Final of the Women’s Double Sculls (W2x) where they put in a determined performance against tough U23 representation to achieve fourth place and ninth overall.
All four rowers – coached by Tom Selby, Poppy Kearney and Dan Harris – have been invited for additional testing with the GB Rowing Team in the coming week.
Several PDA alumni also caught the eye with Sports Management and Coaching graduate Cedol Dafydd, who made his senior World Cup debut last summer, teaming up with Callum Dixon to claim overall M2x victory. Jamie Gare, who studied Accounting and Finance, and partner Harry Ruinet won the B Final ahead of Knight and Stradling.
“It’s the most exciting race I’ve had so far in my career and I have huge respect for the rest of the squad as it was a very close finish,” said Dafydd. “I am happy to see how crew formations pan out and I’ll take whatever seat I can, to get me to the World Championship in September.”
Wilde, who memorably won W2x bronze on her Olympic debut at Paris 2024, was a silver-medallist on this occasion with Sarah McKay.
The Sport and Social Sciences graduate was also presented with a trophy and medal by Dame Katherine Grainger (pictured top) after being named as the GB Rowing Team’s BOA Female Olympic Athlete of the Year in honour of her outstanding achievements both on and off the water.
A meteoric 2024 season saw Wilde overcome injury and surgery to break into the senior squad, secure a Paris place at the final Olympic Qualification Regatta and then win bronze on the biggest stage with Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne. Her achievements were hailed as a triumph over a series of challenges and credited as an inspiration to athletes of the future, bringing great credit to herself, the GB Rowing Team and Team GB.
“This is very special and it means a lot to win this trophy after the experience of 2024,” said Wilde. “I still have to pinch myself about the whirlwind from Europeans, to FOQR and the Olympics. We worked so hard and it was such a special project which became a real dream come true. It was the stuff dreams are made of. I’ve never raced at a World Championships so I am really excited to start racing this season.”
Daisy Faithfull, a Sport and Exercise Science graduate who was also a Team Bath sports massage therapist, placed fourth in the Women’s Pair B Final with Jessica Martin.
Find out more about rowing at the University of Bath, including details of how to apply for testing with the Bath Performance Development Academy, by visiting teambath.com/rowing.
