King's Postgrad helps Great Britain to silver at European Championships

Sunday 1st June saw PhD student Zoë Lee win a silver medal in the women’s eight event at the European Rowing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. 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.

The event marked the start of the Great Britain rowing team’s racing calendar this year and follows Zoë’s own strong 3rd place finish in the pairs trial at the GB Senior Rowing Trials earlier in the year.

Zoë first learnt to row at Oxford University whilst studying for a BA (Geography) and MSc (Dryland Science and Management) and stroking the Oxford boat for the Women’s Boat Race in the process. Having moved to London she began a PhD in Geography at King’s, focusing into the area of sand transportation. Alongside academic study Zoë has continued to row, representing Sport Imperial Boat Club and earning her first senior international representation in 2011 as part of the women’s eight at the same European Championship event. 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 two remaining rowing World Cups taking place in June and July, ahead of the World Championships later in the year.

Final results and a full report from the Women’s A Final at the European Championships can be found on the GB Rowing website – here.