Hannah Scott praises training partners for stirring encouragement

Humble Hannah Scott said the success of her training partners spurred her on to the final of the women’s single sculls at the World Rowing Championships.

The Coleraine rower finished third fastest in Friday’s second semi-final to earn a shot at her first major championship medal in Sunday's showpiece.

Great Britain’s women’s four and quad, as well as the lightweight double sculls crew, had already secured safe passage from their semi-finals prior to Scott’s impressive outing.

And the Bann Rowing Club star admitted those performances gave her an added incentive to keep her own medal ambitions on track in Racice.

“The other girls had absolutely standout races,” she said.

“Watching them do it, they’ve been my training partners all season, so it gave me a bit of inner confidence, on top of my self-belief, to know that it was in there and it was just about pulling it out the bag.”

A podium finish would constitute a remarkable turnaround for the 23-year-old, who missed last month’s European Championships as she continued her recovery from a rib fracture.

Now she hopes she can round off a fantastic first season as a single scull and add to the World Cup bronze she won in Belgrade in May.

But she is not getting carried away and insists her focus lies in improving from race to race.

“I’m super chuffed with that performance,” she said. “I went into this race with nothing to lose,"

"It’s been a really up and down season for me, but anything can happen and I wanted to stay focused to see what I could do. I’m really proud of that performance to get me into the A final.

“My aim for that race was to progress on from the heat and repechage because I haven’t raced in quite a while.

“So it was more about keeping my head in the progression of this regatta because I wasn’t going to be the fastest boat in the heat.

“But it’s a long week and anything can happen, so I was really focusing through the week to get to this point.”

British Rowing is responsible for the development of rowing in England and the training and selection of rowers to represent Great Britain. The GB Rowing Team is supported by the National Lottery Sports Fund. To find out more, and to follow the ongoing World Championships in Racice, head to https://www.britishrowing.org/