Polly Swann

Polly Swann (born 5 June 1988) is a British rower and a member of the Great Britain Rowing Team.[1][2] She is a former World and European champion in the women's coxless pairs, having won the 2013 World Rowing Championships at Chungju in Korea, and the 2014 European Rowing Championships at Belgrade, Serbia with her partner Helen Glover.

Polly Swann

Personal information
Nationality	British
Born	(1988-06-05) 5 June 1988 Lancaster, Lancashire, England
Height	1.86 m (6.1 ft)[1]
Sport
Country	Great Britain
Sport	Rowing
Partner	Jo Cook, 2012 Helen Glover 2013–2014
Coached by	Robin Williams, 2013, 2014
Medal record Women's rowing Representing  Great Britain Olympic Games 2016 Rio de Janeiro W8+ World Championships 2013 Chungju, Korea W2- World Rowing Cup 2013 Sydney W2- 2013 Eton Dorney W2- 2013 Lucerne Rotsee W2- European Championships 2014 Belgrade W2− European University Championships 2009 Coxless pair 2009 Women's 8 Amsterdam International Regatta 2010 Amsterdam u23 Quad

Early life

Polly Swann is the elder of two children born to Sally and David Swann, a doctor. She was born in Lancaster, England, but when she was three weeks old the family moved to Edinburgh, Scotland where she was raised and educated. She attended George Heriot's School where, at the age of 14, she started rowing on the Union Canal. She went on to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh until taking a sabbatical in 2010 to concentrate on rowing. As of 2013 she is also studying for a degree in global health policy at the University of London.[1][3][4]

Career

2009

At the European University Sports Association (EUSA) Championships Swann won a gold medal in the women's pair and a silver medal in the women's eight.[1]

She represented Scotland at the Home International Regatta held at Holme Pierrepont National Watersports Centre, England, winning gold medals in both the women's pair and the women's eight.[1]

2010

In 2010, she rowed in the quadruple sculls at the World Rowing U23 Championships in Brest, Belarus and finished fourth.[1][2] This success gave her the impetus to take a sabbatical from her University Medical Degree course, to move to Henley and concentrate full-time on rowing.[4]

She won gold in the 'Under 23 quadruple sculls' at Amsterdam International Regatta in June.[1]

At the Henley Women's Regatta in June she won the Avril Vellacott Cup for Elite Coxless Fours.[1]

She was a member of the Scotland Team for the Commonwealth Rowing Championships in Welland, Canada.[5]

2011

Swann was a member of the women's eight at the 2011 European Rowing Championships at Plovdiv, Bulgaria, where they finished fourth.[1][2]

At the GB Rowing Team Senior Trials at Eton/Dorney, Swann was teamed with Monica Relph in the women's coxless pair and finished fifth.[1]

At the Henley Royal Regatta she reached the final of the Remenham Challenge Cup, where the GB Senior Women's eight were defeated by Princeton Training Center, U.S.A.[1][6]

2012

Swann and Jo Cook finished fourth in the women's pairs at the GB Rowing Team Senior Trials at Eton Dorney in March.[1] Back injury contributed to her missing selection for the Olympics rowing team.[3][7]

2013

Teamed with Helen Glover in the women's coxless pair under the tutelage of Robin Williams, Swann completed a clean sweep of three victories at the World Rowing Cup, winning gold at Penrith Lakes, Australia in March; Eton Dorney, London in June; and Lucerne Rotsee in July.[1][2][8][9]

In July 2013, at the Henley Royal Regatta she teamed up with Victoria Meyer-Laker, Frances Houghton and Helen Glover to win the Princess Grace Challenge Cup for women's quadruple scull. Competing as Leander Club and Minerva Bath Rowing Club they completed the final course in 6 minutes 59 seconds.[10]

On 31 August, teamed with Helen Glover in the women's coxless pair, she became the world champion at the 2013 World Rowing Championships at Chungju in the Republic of Korea. They completed the final in 7 mins 22.82 secs, finishing ahead of Roxana Cogianu and Nicoleta Albu of Romania, and having overhauled the American boat which had led briefly in the early stages.[11][12]

In December 2013 Glover and Swann were voted as 'Team of the Year' by the SportsSister organisation, additionally Glover won the 'Readers Choice' vote. Glover and Swann also received the Chairman's award from the Sports Journalists' Association (SJA).[13][14]

2014

On 19 April 2014 Swann was teamed with Jessica Eddie for the women's pair at the British rowing trials at Caversham, where they finished 1.14 seconds behind Helen Glover and Heather Stanning.[15][16] In May, Swann was selected to partner Helen Glover in the women's coxless pair at the European Rowing Championships at Ada Ciganlija, Belgrade on 30 May.[17] In the heat they set a new European best time of 7 minutes 9 seconds, and in the final on 1 June they lowered it to 7 minutes 3.62 seconds, finishing 5 seconds ahead of the reigning European champion Cristina Grigoras and Laura Oprea of Romania.[18][19][20]

2016

She won a silver medal in the women's eight at the 2016 Summer Olympics.[21]

2019

Having taken time away from rowing to complete her medical studies at the University of Edinburgh, Swann has returned to international competition after being selected in the W4- for the Poznan World Cup in June 2019.[22]

She competed in the 4- event at the 2019 World Rowing Championships in Ottensheim, Austria, winning the "B" final and qualifying for the 2020 Olympics.[23]

References

1. British Rowing – Profile of Polly Swann
2. Polly Swann at FISA WorldRowing.com
3. The Herald, Scotland. Sunday Herald. 16 June 2013, Polly's pulling power by Susan Swarbrick
4. The Herald, Scotland. 25 May 2012, Swann takes to the water in quest for gold, by Richard Winton
5. "CRC Results" (PDF). www.row2k.com. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
6. Henley Royal Regatta, 2011 results – Remenham Challenge Cup
7. BBC, Sport, Rowing, 28 June 2013, Polly Swann: Helen Glover's partner uncertain of boat for Rio
8. Quarrell, Rachel (24 March 2013). "Golden day for Britain's Olympic rowing champions on waters of Sydney". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
9. "World Rowing Cup: GB's Helen Glover & Polly Swann win gold". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
10. Henley Royal Regatta, Official results, 2013 Archived 22 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine
11. World Rowing. 2013 World Championships at Chungju, Korea
12. British Rowing. 31 August 2013. Gold for Glover-Swann, GB Rowing Team men's quad make history – Race reports Archived 28 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine
13. Sportsister
14. Sports Journalists Association
15. BBC, Sport – Rowing. 19 April 2014. Heather Stanning & Helen Glover reunite to win British rowing trials By Lawrence Barretto
16. British Rowing. 19 April 2014. Trio of Olympic Champions amongst six title winners at GB Rowing Team Trials Archived 21 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine
17. BBC Sport News, 14 May 2014, Heather Stanning backed for quick return despite European absence, By Lawrence Barretto
18. GB Rowing, 1 June 2014, European Championships – Men's four and women's pair stand out in Serbia Archived 6 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine
19. BBC Olympic Sports- Rowing. 1 June 2014 European Rowing Championships 2014: Great Britain win two golds
20. World Rowing.com, 1 June 2014. European Championships – A European Champs of Best Times Archived 1 June 2014 at Archive.today
21. "Rio Olympics 2016: Great Britain eight win historic medal". BBC Sport. BBC. 13 August 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
22. "Polly Swann: Rower back in GB team for first time since Rio silver medal". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
23. "World Rowing Championships: Polly Swann 'saw some dark places' on her way to GB return". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 September 2019.

External links

• Polly Swann at FISA WorldRowing.com