Lauren Irwin

Rower // Women's Squad
Club: Leander Club
Height: 186 cm
Hometown: Peterlee

Lauren Irwin profile image

Lauren was first introduced to rowing at her secondary school, St Bedes in Peterlee at 13 years old.

Her PE teacher wanted to form an indoor rowing team so they could compete against other schools in the local area. At the time rowing wasn’t even a sport she had heard of, and after much persuasion by the PE teacher she decided to give it a go. She was a swimmer at the time but was looking to try something new. After winning events at the County Durham School Games she was invited to join the Junior High Performance Academy run by the Durham University coaches and students. Wade Hall-Craggs and Harriet Tebbs were her mentors and guided her into the sport.

She joined Chester-le-Street Rowing Club later that year, even though she fell into the water lots of times, she started loving the sport more and more and really got hooked. Coaches Arran Lewcock and Steven Thompson developed her as a junior athlete and coached her to her first Great Britain vest at the Junior World Championships in 2016. She was so inspired after racing at her first international event and watching the 2016 Olympic Games that she wanted to see how far she could push herself in the sport.

Lauren studied at Durham University from 2016-2019 and was coached by Ian Shore and Wade Hall-Craggs. During her time at Durham, she went to the U23 World Championships 3 times and won Gold in 2019 in the Women’s four. She moved away from home to Henley-on-Thames to row at Leander in 2019. Her coach, Ross Hunter developed her further as an athlete and prepared her for senior racing. She was invited to row full time as a GB athlete at Caversham in 2021 ready for the new Olympic cycle to start. Since then she has picked up several international medals and achieved her dream of being selected to race at the Paris Olympic Games.

At the Paris 2024 Olympic Rowing Regatta, Lauren won a brilliant bronze in the Women’s eight.

Visit our 2024 Olympic Regatta hub

There have been no Olympic athletes from her hometown in Peterlee, and becoming one makes her very proud. She has always been active since a young age going from sport to sport, and her brother was always her number one competition. Her parents would drive them around the country, competing in whatever sport they were playing. Her family inspires her everyday and she wouldn’t be where she is today without their continued support.

Trust the Process and don't take things too seriously

On The Water

GB Competitive Record

Year Event Result Boat
2024 Olympic Rowing Regatta
Paris, FRA
W8+
2024 World Rowing Cup II
Lucerne, SUI
W8+
2024 European Rowing Championships
Szeged, HUN
W8+
2024 World Rowing Cup I
Varese, ITA
W8+
2024 World Rowing Cup I
Varese, ITA
6 W4- GBR3
2023 World Rowing Championships
Belgrade, SRB
4 W8+
2023 World Rowing Cup III
Lucerne, SUI
W8+
2023 World Rowing Cup II
Varese, ITA
W8+
2023 World Rowing Cup II
Varese, ITA
7 (1 in Final B) W2- (GBR2)
2023 European Rowing Championships
Bled, SLO
W8+
2022 European Rowing Championships
Munich, GER
W8+
2022 World Rowing Cup III
Lucerne, SUI
9 (3 in Final B) W4- (GBR2)
2021 World Rowing Cup III
Sabaudia, ITA
4 W4-
2019 World Rowing Under 23 Championships
Sarasota-Bradenton, USA
BW4-
2018 World Rowing Under 23 Championships
Poznan, POL
4 BW8+
2017 World Rowing Under 23 Championships
Plovdiv, BUL
6 BW4-
2016 World Rowing Junior Championships
Rotterdam, NED
9 (3 in Final B) JW2-
Year:
2024
Event:
Olympic Rowing Regatta
Paris, FRA
Result:
Boat:
W8+
Year:
2024
Event:
World Rowing Cup II
Lucerne, SUI
Result:
Boat:
W8+
Year:
2024
Event:
European Rowing Championships
Szeged, HUN
Result:
Boat:
W8+
Year:
2024
Event:
World Rowing Cup I
Varese, ITA
Result:
Boat:
W8+
Year:
2024
Event:
World Rowing Cup I
Varese, ITA
Result:
6
Boat:
W4- GBR3
Year:
2023
Event:
World Rowing Championships
Belgrade, SRB
Result:
4
Boat:
W8+
Year:
2023
Event:
World Rowing Cup III
Lucerne, SUI
Result:
Boat:
W8+
Year:
2023
Event:
World Rowing Cup II
Varese, ITA
Result:
Boat:
W8+
Year:
2023
Event:
World Rowing Cup II
Varese, ITA
Result:
7 (1 in Final B)
Boat:
W2- (GBR2)
Year:
2023
Event:
European Rowing Championships
Bled, SLO
Result:
Boat:
W8+
Year:
2022
Event:
European Rowing Championships
Munich, GER
Result:
Boat:
W8+
Year:
2022
Event:
World Rowing Cup III
Lucerne, SUI
Result:
9 (3 in Final B)
Boat:
W4- (GBR2)
Year:
2021
Event:
World Rowing Cup III
Sabaudia, ITA
Result:
4
Boat:
W4-
Year:
2019
Event:
World Rowing Under 23 Championships
Sarasota-Bradenton, USA
Result:
Boat:
BW4-
Year:
2018
Event:
World Rowing Under 23 Championships
Poznan, POL
Result:
4
Boat:
BW8+
Year:
2017
Event:
World Rowing Under 23 Championships
Plovdiv, BUL
Result:
6
Boat:
BW4-
Year:
2016
Event:
World Rowing Junior Championships
Rotterdam, NED
Result:
9 (3 in Final B)
Boat:
JW2-