Rebecca Shorten

Tokyo Olympian Rebecca Shorten is reigning European Champion in the women's coxless four (W4-).

As a youngster, she took up rowing whilst at school at Methodist College Belfast and represented Rowing Ireland in the JW4x at the Coupe de la Jeunesse in 2011 where she won a bronze medal. She was part of the winning women’s eight at the British Rowing Championships in 2015.

Having shown her talent at Imperial College Boat Club on the Putney embankment – finishing in third place at the Women’s Eights Head of the River Race in 2015 and 2017 – she was invited to train full-time at Caversham in April 2017.

That year she stroked the women’s eight (W8+) to silver at World Cup I and bronze at World Cup III. At the World Championships, her crew finished fifth in a race where just over a length separated the six boats. Still in the W8+, in 2018 she won the silver medal at the European Rowing Championships and finished sixth at the World Championships; in 2019 they won silver again at the Europeans, this timing coming sixth at the Worlds.

Moving into the W4- for 2021, she took bronze at the European Championships and finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

In 2022 she has enjoyed an unbeaten season in the W4-, winning gold at Worlds Cups I and III and at the European Championships, where her crew doubled up in the eight, adding a silver medal to their collection, and at the World Championships.

She remained in the new-look GB women’s four in 2023, winning silver at the European Championships.