U23 World Champion Finn Stratton ready for senior debut at World Rowing Cup I

Ahead of flying to Seville, Finn Stratton sat down and reflected on her rowing journey from the River Avon to the Redgrave Pinsent Rowing Lake

For Finn Stratton, the past couple of years have featured some incredible highs. It’s no surprise that her rise through the rankings has coincided with Reading University Boat Club cementing itself at the very top of student rowing.

Since BUCS Regatta 2023, Stratton has been filling up her trophy cabinet. Gold medals across the Championship events at BUCS Regatta sit proudly next to a purple box from Henley Women’s Regatta, as well as a bronze and gold from two successful campaigns at the World Rowing U23 Championships in the Women’s Quadruple Sculls.

After winning the Women’s Single Sculls at the November Trials in Boston, Stratton will make her senior debut at World Rowing Cup I in Seville. After learning to row at Avon County Rowing Club, the 23-year-old can hardly believe the journey she has been on.

“I learned to row in single sculls, and I was very wobbly,” said the Reading University Boat Club Student.

“My big plastic tub of a boat was tied to a rope for a while! It was all driven by volunteers, and I fell in a fair few times even at regattas; we had so much fun. It’s such a good club and the culture is fantastic. It’s far away from what I’m doing now, but I do go back and visit, and it’s nice to see everyone where you’ve come from…I think they have a boat named after me!

“One of my highlights was racing at the Junior Inter-Regional Regatta. One year, we came third in the quad. We would go and camp at Holme Pierrepont, and that experience was great. That was amazing to represent WAGS and Wales.”

Reading University Boat Club has been a catalyst for Stratton’s success. Led by Director of Rowing Will Rand and Performance Coach Chris Bartley, the Women’s Captain has flourished.

“Chris and Will really know what they are doing. The amount of support for every university athlete is amazing. The way the programme is built and the amount of time that goes in to making sure everyone has a good time, but also progressing in the way they want to progress and doing what they want to do. Whether that’s rowing at town regattas or the British Rowing Championships, or whatever they want to do, they push you to achieve your goals.”

Last year, Bartley was recognised for all of his efforts with Reading University Boat Club. He was awarded the Dan Topolski Development Coach of the Year trophy. Not only recognised for his work at Reading, but Chris was commended for his work with the U23 Women’s Quadruple Sculls of Stratton, Olivia Cheesmur, Poppy Baker, Ellie Cooke, who won U23 World Championship gold by clear water, almost 3 seconds ahead of crews from Germany and Poland.

Credit: Benedict Tufnell

Stratton will be one of three Reading University Boat Club rowers to be travelling to Seville. After winning Paralympic gold in the Mixed PR3 Coxed Four, Ed Fuller will race with Matt Long in the second British Double Scull. Long will make his senior team debut along with Stratton, fresh from winning the Championship Single Sculls, Double Sculls, and Quadruple Sculls at BUCS Regatta.

While Stratton wasn’t with the squad up in Nottingham, you can rest assured she was cheering from afar.

“I remember watching BUCS Regatta in the crew room. There’s quite a few of the team who have athletes they are watching over as well. To be able to watch them put out such great performances and just have so much fun while they are doing it is fantastic.

“I’ve been watching what the whole club has been doing while I’ve been here. The fact that I haven’t been involved with BUCS and they have achieved more than they have done has just been awesome to see.”

Despite being one of the younger members of the team, Stratton is eager to pick up as much knowledge as possible from those around her in the new training environment.

“I feel like I’m quite new to the team here, so I’m learning so much as I go along. For now, I want to make the most of the quad I’m in at the World Rowing Cup. The women I’m rowing with are more experienced than I am, and they are teaching me so much about how to row and so much else.

“The support here is very different to what we have at university. The coaches, the physios, nutritionists, all of these people you are working with day to day is quite different from university. Learning all of that is at the forefront of my mind. Looking forward, it’s targeting the World Championships and Olympics. LA2028 is obviously the big one. To make the Olympics and be an Olympian is everyone’s dream, so that’s my main goal.”