Glover and Stanning named World Female Crew of the Year

Helen Glover and Heather Stanning have been named as World Female Crew of the Year by rowing’s international federation, FISA.

The Olympic Champions were shortlisted for the Award through a public nomination process before being chosen by a vote of the FISA Council.  Their success was announced by FISA at its gala dinner in Sarasota, Florida, USA, this evening where the World Coaches’ Conference is taking place.

In 2015, the GB Rowing Team women’s pair were crowned World and European Champions as well as overall World Cup winners during another unbeaten season.

The other finalists were Australian single sculler Kim Crow, also unbeaten in 2015, and the US women’s eight who earned a record tenth straight win at the World Championships.

Stanning said: “It goes without saying that we are extremely proud of this award. It is the culmination of a lot of hard work in training but also from the people around us – our coach Robin Williams and the whole of the GB Rowing Team support staff.”

Glover said: “We feel very humbled to receive such a global accolade. I’d like to thank everyone who helped us make this possible. Thank you, FISA, for this recognition. We now want to drive on in training every day to continue to improve and be the best we can be in the Olympic season ahead.”

British Rowing Chief Executive Andy Parkinson said: “Helen and Heather are not only successful athletes but are role models for a whole generation of young people. As a sport we are delighted for them and proud of them.”

Sir David Tanner, GB Rowing Team Performance Director, added: “It is fabulous to see two extremely hard-working and dedicated members of our team winning this award from such a strong field of top athletes.”

When Glover and Stanning crossed the line to take World gold in Aiguebelette, France, ahead of New Zealand and the USA in September 2015, Sir David – part of the GB set-up since the 1990s – said:  “That was utterly exceptional. In my book, that ranks as one of the best GB performances of all time.”