At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Debbie raced in the women's quadruple scull with Melanie Wilson, Frances Houghton and Beth Rodford, finishing 6th.

In Lucerne, for the second World Cup of the 2012 season, Debbie raced in the women's 8 and finished 5th. At the third World Cup in Munich, Debbie raced in the women's quad with Melanie Wilson, Beth Rodford and Frances Houghton. The crew won a bronze medal.

At 2011 World Rowing Championships in Bled, Slovenia, Debbie raced in the women's quadruple scull with crewmates Beth Rodford, Annabel Vernon and Melanie Wilson, finishing 7th.

During the 2011 World Cup Series, Debbie raced in the women's quadruple scull taking bronze in Munich and silver in Lucerne.

In challenging conditions on New Zealand's Lake Karapiro, Debbie and her crewmates Beth Rodford, Frances Houghton and Annabel Vernon in the women's quadruple scull, made up a first-half deficit in their 2010 World Rowing Championships' final to overhaul reigning champions, the Ukraine, and win a superb gold medal in 7:12.78.

After a year's break from the sport whilst she completed her probationary year with the Prison Service, Debbie returned to full-time training with the GB Rowing Squads in April in time for the 2010 World Cup Series.  In Bled she raced in the women's single scull taking 9th place and in Lucerne in the same boat she came 5th.

Debbie was a GB junior judo international and a county level 1500m and cross–country runner and shot–putter before she took up rowing and her strength and athletic ability ensured rapid progress.  She won the Junior title at the 1997 British Indoor Rowing Championships and the 1998 World Indoor Rowing Championships and then took the Under 23 title at the British Indoor Rowing Championships in 1999.

Her international rowing career began with a bronze in the double scull with Frances Houghton at the World Rowing Junior Championships in 1998 and the following year they made an impressive U23 debut, winning gold at the World Rowing U23 Championships in Hamburg.

In 2000 Debbie also won gold at the World Rowing U23 Championships, this time in the single. She gained her first senior vest in 2001, finishing 7th in the double scull and 6th in the eight at the World Rowing Championships in  Lucerne.

In 2002 she won the World Cup series in the double scull, also with Frances Houghton, after victories at Hazewinkel and Lucerne, and finished 4th at the World Rowing Championships in Seville.

The following season Debbie raced with Rebecca Romero in the double throughout the season culminating in a 4th place at the World Rowing Championships in Milan.

In 2004 Debbie raced in the women's quad.  At the Olympic Games in Athens they qualified for the final by winning their heat and although they were unable to catch the fast–starting Germans they came through the field in great style to win an emphatic Olympic silver medal.

Debbie raced for much of the 2005 season in a double scull with Elise Laverick, winning a bronze at the World Cup in Lucerne and finishing 5th in the World Rowing Championships in Japan.

The World Cup Series in 2006 brought gold with the women's quad in Poznan, Munich and Lucerne.

At the 2006 World Rowing Championships at Eton/Dorney the women's quadruple scull fought an intense battle with Russia and were just beaten to the line in the dying metres of the race to take silver.  In a strange twist of fate, their Russian conquerors later fell foul of a drugs test and the British women's quartet were restored, in early 2007, as rightful World Champions once more.

In 2007 the quad were also World Cup Champions having won the overall title with 2 golds and a silver in the three event series.  She raced in the quad for the 2008 World Cup series, finishing 1st in Munich and 3rd in Lucerne.

Debbie was selected in the women's quadruple scull for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and won her second Olympic silver medal.

In November 2009 she won the British Indoor Rowing Championships in Birmingham in a time of 6:52.2.

Originally from Harrogate, Debbie moved south to study Physiology and Biochemistry at Reading University, from where she graduated in 2005.

She is a committed Christian and in her spare time enjoys giving dinner parties for her friends and rowing team mates in Henley.  She also learnt Chinese in preparation for the Beijing Olympics.

Debbie is Lottery Funded through UK Sport.