Olivia Rose Whitlam (born 16 September 1985) is a female rower from Daresbury, near

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

, England. She became the Under-23 World Champion in 2007 in the pairs with partner

Heather Stanning Heather Mary Stanning OBE (born 26 January 1985) is a retired British professional rower, a member of the Great Britain Rowing Team, and Royal Artillery officer. Ranked number 1 female rower in the world in 2016, she is a double Olympic champi ...

. She competed in the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

with new partner

Louisa Reeve Louisa Reeve (born 16 May 1984 in London) is a British rower who competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Olympics. Rowing career Along with Olivia Whitlam she finished 6th in the women's coxless pair at the 2008 Summer Olympics. ...

, paired together only three months before the games began. As the newest pair on the 2008 British Olympic Rowing team, they were uncertain what their expectations should be, but Olivia and Louisa surprised everyone by placing third in their heat, holding off a strong challenge by the Americans. They then made the final by placing second in the repechage ahead of Australia and France. At the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, she competed as part of the GB women's eight. A member of Agecroft Rowing Club in

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

, she, along with

Richard Egington Richard Phillip Egington (born 26 February 1979 in Warrington, Cheshire) is a British rower. He won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics for Great Britain in the men's eight. He was part of the British squad that topped the medal table at ...

, were the first rowers from Warrington at the Olympics, having learnt to row at

King's School, Chester The King's School, Chester, is a British co-educational independent day school for children aged 4 to 18. It is one of the seven 'King's Schools' established (or re-endowed and renamed) by King Henry VIII in 1541 after the Dissolution of t ...

References

External links

British Olympic Association

"BEIJING 2008: Whitlam just wants to give her all" Warrington Guardian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitlam, Olivia English female rowers Rowers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic rowers for Great Britain Living people 1985 births People educated at The King's School, Chester People from the Borough of Halton Sportspeople from Cheshire