Charlotte Taylor

Rio 2016 Olympiad: 2013 – 2016

After winning the GB Rowing Team Trials, Taylor was once again selected in the lightweight women’s double scull along with Kat Copeland for the 2016 season. They were not at their best at the European Championships in Brandenburg and had to settle for seventh place overall. They then missed the World Cups in Lucerne and Poznan before ending a frustrating season by placing 14th overall at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Taylor and London 2012 Olympic champion Copeland had forged an encouraging partnership during 2015, starting with a dominant performance to win gold at the European Championships in Poznan, Poland.

They followed that by setting a new world best time in the semi-finals at the Varese World Cup before pipping New Zealand’s Sophie Mackenzie and Julia Edward to gold on the line in a thrilling final the following day.

After a fourth-placed finish in Lucerne, Taylor and Copeland were back in good form at the World Championships in Aiguebelette and gave the defending champions from New Zealand a major scare with another late surge. They eventually had to settle for silver, just half a length down.

Taylor first trialled for GB in 2013, finishing fifth in the lightweight women’s single sculls. She also demonstrated her potential on the domestic stage, winning the lightweight elite single sculls at Henley Women’s Regatta, the women’s singles and quads at the Home International Regatta, and the lightweight women’s doubles at the British Championships.

Having placed third in the 2014 GB Senior Trials, she made her international debut at the European Championships and finished just outside the medals in the lightweight singles. She then paired up with Ellie Piggott in a lightweight double at the World Cup in Aiguebelette, winning silver behind fellow Brits Kat Copeland and Imogen Walsh in an exciting final.

Taylor and Piggott were teamed with Ruth Walczak and Brianna Stubbs in a lightweight quad for the last two regattas of the season, finishing eighth in the open-weight category at the Lucerne World Cup and sixth at the World Championships in Amsterdam.

She first began rowing in 2010 when she moved to London to start a new job.  Her dad, an enthusiastic veteran at Bedford Star Club, suggested it could be a good sport for her. “The irony is, I told dad at the time that I didn’t want a sport that would take over my life, just one to settle me into London life!”

Taylor has always been sporty and had tried gymnastics, running and cycling, all of which have given her an excellent foundation of skills and fitness which she now applies to her rowing.

She paid her way at the University of St Andrews by baking and selling chocolate brownies, and has an ambition to be a chocolatier when she finishes rowing and doesn’t “have to worry about being a lightweight any more”. Her favourite TV shows include Bake Off and MasterChef.

She also enjoys drawing and painting, knitting and hillwalking. She spent a year learning Farsi but admits: “I can’t really remember much of that any more.”

Her non-sporting heroes include friend and fast-jet pilot Paul Beaver, A&E workers Tom and Julie-Anne Evens, and her brother, who overcame having a stroke when he was aged three.

She is Lottery funded through UK Sport.