Beth Rodford (born 28 December 1982) is a British rower. Rodford participated in two Olympic games, 2008 Summer in Beijing and 2012 Summer in London. At Beijing, she finished in fifth place in the Women's Eight. In 2012 at London, she finished in sixth position in the

quadruple scull A quadruple sculling boat, often simply called a quad and abbreviated as a 4x, is a racing shell used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four people who propel the boat by sculling with two oars, or "sculls", one in each ha ...

s. She announced her retirement from international rowing on 16 December 2015.

Biography

Rowing at the 2012 Summer Olympics 9174 W quadruple sculls heat2 GBR NZL

Rodford was born in

Burton-upon-Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. At the 2021 census, it had a population of 7 ...

. Rodford currently lives in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

. She is a student, and is studying Sports Science at

Brunel University Brunel University of London (BUL) is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution. It became a university ...

in London, UK. Rodford is in weight, and is tall.

Rowing

Rodford started rowing in 1995. She began rowing when in secondary school, and despite initial difficulties kept going and was first selected to represent Britain in 1999, winning a bronze medal in the coxless four at the

World Rowing Junior Championships The World Rowing U19 Championships, former name World Rowing Junior Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). A rower or coxswain shall be classified as a Junior until 31 Decemb ...

. She currently trains with the Gloucester Rowing Club (Gloucester RC). She is classed as an official coach and rower. Rodford is trained by six people; Adrian Roberts ( Ade Roberts), Cath Pollard, Gary Stubbs,

John Keogh John Keogh (1740 – 13 November 1817) was an Irish merchant and Catholic political activist. He was a leading campaigner for Catholic Emancipation and reform of the Irish Parliament, active in Dublin on the Catholic Committee and, ...

, Mark Pollard and Ron Needs. She holds the British indoor record over 2000 metres at J13, J14, J15, and J16. For much of her career Rodford rowed in a

Quadruple scull A quadruple sculling boat, often simply called a quad and abbreviated as a 4x, is a racing shell used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four people who propel the boat by sculling with two oars, or "sculls", one in each ha ...

(quad scull; W4x) rowing boat, and participated in the Women's Quadruple Sculls event, and the Women's Eight. Rodford received Lottery Funding from

UK Sport UK Sport is the government agency responsible for investing money sourced from the National Lottery and the government, into Olympic and Paralympic sport in the United Kingdom. It is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the D ...

. Rodford participated in the

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

and finished in fifth place in the Women's Eight. She won the gold medal in women's quadruple sculls at the

2010 World Rowing Championships The 2010 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 31 October to 7 November 2010 on Lake Karapiro near Cambridge, New Zealand, Cambridge, New Zealand. The annual week-long rowing (sport), rowing regatta was or ...

. In the 2011 World Cup series she won silver and gold medals. At the

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

held in London, she finished in sixth position with

Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. ...

in the W4x class, with a final time of 06:51.54. She was "off colour" throughout the 2012 season. In the 2012 World cup competitions she raced in the women's quadruple scull. In Belgrade and Munich the team won bronze medals. In Lucerne they finished in fifth place.

2014

On 17 March 2014 Rodford was part of the composite crew that won the

Women's Eights Head of the River Race The Women's Eights Head of the River Race (WEHoRR) is a processional rowing race held annually on the Tideway of the River Thames in London on the Championship Course from Mortlake to Putney. A mirror of the Eights Head of the River for ma ...

on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

in London, setting a record time of 17:42.2 for the 4 1⁄4-mile (6.8 km)

Championship Course The Championship Course is a stretch of the River Thames between Mortlake and Putney in London, England. It is a well-established course for sport rowing, rowing races, particularly the The Boat Race, Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. The course ...

from

Mortlake Mortlake is a suburban district of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames on the south bank of the River Thames between Kew and Barnes, London, Barnes. Historically it was part of Surrey and until 1965 was in the Municipal Borough of Barnes ...

Putney Putney () is an affluent district in southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ...

. The crew comprised

Heather Stanning Heather Mary Stanning (born 26 January 1985) is a retired British professional rower. As a member of the Great Britain rowing team, she is a double Olympic champion, double World champion, quadruple World Cup champion and double European champ ...

– Army RC; Beth Rodford – Gloucester RC; Zoe Lee – Imperial College BC; Jessica Eddie – London RC; Helen Glover – Minerva Bath Rowing Club; Olivia Carnegie-Brown – Oxford Brookes University BC; Tina Stiller – Tees RC; Caragh McMurtry – Reading University BC; cox Phelan Hill –

Leander Club Leander Club, founded in 1818, is one of the oldest rowing clubs in the world, and the oldest non-academic club. It is based in Remenham in Berkshire, England and adjoins Henley-on-Thames. Only three other surviving clubs were founded prior ...

.Women's Eights Head of the River Race, Official Results Archive. 2014 results

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodford, Beth 1982 births Living people British female rowers English female rowers Olympic rowers for Great Britain Rowers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2012 Summer Olympics World Rowing Championships medalists for Great Britain Sportspeople from Burton upon Trent Alumni of Brunel University London 21st-century English sportswomen