Olivia Bates

Liv watched the London 2012 Olympics on TV, and, inspired by watching the Women’s Doubles Sculls final, joined her local rowing club - Trent Rowing Club in Burton.

She moved to train at Nottingham when she was 16. Her family, despite not rowing themselves, have supported her training and helped to get her to all the different events she’s raced at, being a driving force behind the scenes to help her realise her dreams. She joined the GB Rowing Team senior squad in 2023 and won two bronze World Cup medals in the Lightweight Single Sculls in her first season.

Liv has always wanted to become a vet and studied Veterinary Science at the University of Nottingham, successfully juggling her studies with her rowing. She’s taken a year out from her course now to focus on training but will return to university in 2025. In 2023 Liv won Nottingham’s Robin Hood Half Marathon, beating regular club runners in a personal best time of 84.03.