PhD student Zoë Lee snatches bronze in France
Great Britain rower and King’s PhD student Zoë Lee grabbed bronze in the final of the Women’s 8+ event at the second Rowing World Cup, which took place Sunday 22nd June. The World Cup event, taking place in France was held on Lake Aiguebelette in glorious conditions and with a majestic alpine backdrop to match. However in a testing 5-boat field, the British women were made to fight for third place as strong US and Canadian crews surged ahead off the line and never looked back. Instead Zoë’s crew had to fight off a sustained challenge from the Chinese national 8+, ultimately edging them on the finish line by less than 0.2s.
The result sees the boat unable to improve on the silver medal won in the same event at the European Rowing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia earlier in the month. There, sitting in the six seat of the nine-person boat (8 rowers + cox), Zoë was part of a crew that delivered a powerful performance to take second place in the final ahead of Germany, narrowly missing out on first place by fewer than 2 seconds from a victorious world-champion Romanian crew.
Earlier in the year Zoë, who had first learnt to row whilst completing a BA and MSc at Oxford University, produced a strong performance at the GB Senior Rowing Trials, placing 3rd overall in the pairs trial.
Having previously competed for Oxford in the Women’s Boat Race, the Yorkshire-born athlete moved to London to begin a PhD in Geography at King’s, focusing her research on the area of sand transportation. Currently on a break in studies in order to focus on the commitments of full-time rowing training, Zoë’s next move will likely be guaranteeing selection for the remaining Rowing World Cup taking place in Lucerne, Switzerland next month, ahead of the World Championships later in the year. Between now and then however, the Great Britain Women’s 8+ will be in action closer to home, at next week’s prestigious Henley Royal Regatta (2-6th July, 2014), where they will feature as one of a number of national women’s crews in the Remenham Challenge Cup.
Students, staff and alumni going to the regatta should keep an eye out for the boat who will race as Leander Club and Imperial College London. King’s will also have a presence through recent alumni Rory Bufacchi (2012) who will race as part the University of London 4- in the Visitor's Challenge Cup, and Paul Bennett (2012), who having rowed for Oxford in the 2013 Boat Race has been selected in the Great Britain Men's 8+, racing as Leander Club & University of London in the Grand Challenge Cup. If you are an alumnus or alumna involved at the regatta this year, we would like to hear from you. Please get in touch via email: sport@kcl.ac.uk