Frances Houghton MBE is a 5 time Olympic rower (2000–2016), 4 times World Champion and 3 times Olympic Silver medallist. She now mentors elite athletes and works as a professional chef.

Early life

Houghton was born in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

, and started her rowing at the

Dragon School ("Reach for the Sun") , established = 1877 , closed = , type = Preparatory day and boarding school and Pre-Prep school , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Emma Goldsm ...

, before moving on to

The King's School, Canterbury The King's School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for 13 to 18 year old pupils) in Canterbury, Kent, England. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Eton Group. It is Britain ...

, making her Junior International debut in 1995. She graduated from King's College London in 2003 with a BA in Hispanic Studies, having taken a sabbatical to prepare for the Olympic Games in Sydney. On return from Sydney, in October 2000, Frances set her sights on competing at 5 Olympic Games.

Rowing career

Frances was the first British woman ever to be selected for 5 Olympic Games in rowing and retired on the Olympic podium in Rio in 2016 having made history as a part of the first ever British Women's Eight to win an Olympic medal, and as the longest ever serving member of the British Rowing Team. Alongside her Olympic medals (Athens 2004; Beijing 2008; Rio 2016), World titles (2005; 2006; 2007; 2010) and 2016 European Gold, Frances held 2 World records during her career.

Early years

Houghton won Britain's first ever Junior women's sculling medal along with partner

Debbie Flood Deborah Kirsty Bruwer (née Flood; born 27 February 1980) is an English rower, noteworthy for winning silver medals in the quadruple sculls at both the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games. Biography Flood was born in Harrogate, Yorkshire, and was a Grea ...

, a Bronze Medal at the 1998 World Junior championships in the

Double scull A double scull is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for two persons who propel the boat by sculling with two oars each, one in each hand. Racing boats (often called "shells") are long, narrow, and broadly ...

s at

Ottensheim Ottensheim is a municipality in the district of Urfahr-Umgebung in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. In July 2008 it hosted the World Rowing Championships, and it did so again in 2019. History First settlements in this area date from about 4 ...

, Austria In November she won the junior title at the

British Indoor Rowing Championships The British Rowing Indoor Championships (BRIC) is an indoor rowing event previously organised by The Rowing Company under the title British Indoor Rowing Championships (BIRC). It first began in 1991 with the first event held in Henley-on-Thames att ...

, where she set a new junior British record. She was also the first Junior girl to break both the 7-minute and 6-minute 50 seconds barriers on the

ergometer Ergometer may refer to: *Exercise machine, equipped with an apparatus for measuring the work performed by exercising * Indoor rower, called an ergometer by rowers * An instrument for measuring the amount of work done by human muscles ''Ergometer ...

.British Rowing – Profile of Frances Houghton
/ref> In 1999 Houghton and Flood won

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

in the Double sculls at the World Under 23 Championships, Britain's first sculling medal at this level. In February she became the World Junior Indoor Rowing Champion at the championships in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

, USA.

2000–2009

Houghton won the GB Rowing Senior Trials (2000–04). Houghton and Sarah Winckless finished ninth in the

double sculls A double scull is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for two persons who propel the boat by sculling with two oars each, one in each hand. Racing boats (often called "shells") are long, narrow, and broadly ...

at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

in Sydney, Australia. At the 2001

World Rowing Championships The World Rowing Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It is a week-long event held at the end of the northern hemisphere summer and in non- Olympic years is the highlight of ...

in Lucerne she finished seventh in the double sculls with

. Whilst living and working in Seville as part of her degree course, she competed in the 2002

, finishing fourth in the double sculls with

. Houghton finished fourth in the quadruple scull at the 2003 World Rowing Championships at Idroscalo, Milan, Italy, partnered by Sarah Winckless,

Alison Mowbray Alison Mowbray (born 1 February 1971) is a British former rower who won a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics competing in the women's quadruple scull. Rowing career Mowbray rowed for the Liverpool University and Polytechnic Boat ClubMowb ...

and Elise Laverick. Houghton won gold medals in the 2004

World Rowing Cup The World Rowing Cup is an international rowing competition organized by FISA The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 ("FISA" , ) is a United States federal law that establishes procedures for the physical and electronic surveillan ...

s at both

Lake Malta Lake Malta, known also as the Maltański Reservoir,Gołdyn R., Kozak A., Kostka K. 1994. Causes of changes in the water quality of the restored Maltański Reservoir in Poznań. In: Gołdyn R. (ed.) Protection of the water of the catchment area of ...

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

, Poland and

Rotsee __NOTOC__ The Rotsee (previously known as Rootsee) is a natural rowing lake on the northern edge of Lucerne, Switzerland. It is regarded as one of the best rowing venues in the world. Description and location The lake and its surrounding area is ...

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label= Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital o ...

, Switzerland, partnered by Alison Mowbray,

and

Rebecca Romero Rebecca Jayne Romero, MBE (born 24 January 1980) is an English sportswoman, a former World Champion and Olympic Games silver medallist at rowing, and a former World champion and an Olympic champion track cyclist. Early life and education Romer ...

– the first British women's quad to beat the Germans in this event. At the Athens Olympic games she won a silver medal in the quadruple sculls, beaten by the German boat. She was teamed with

and

. In 2005, Houghton moved to the 3 seat of the GB women's quadruple scull, where she won the first of her four world championships. She was partnered by

, Sarah Winckless and Katherine Grainger. They won gold medals at the

s at both

Eton Dorney Dorney Lake (also known as Eton College Rowing Centre, and as Eton Dorney as a 2012 Summer Olympics venue) is a purpose-built rowing lake in England. It is near the village of Dorney, Buckinghamshire, and is around 3 km (2 miles) west of ...

and Munich, plus a silver medal in Lucerne. At the

in Japan in September they won gold. In the 2006 World Rowing Cup series Houghton was teamed with Debbie Flood, Sarah Winckless and Katherine Grainger in the quadruple sculls. They achieved a clean sweep of gold medals at Poznan, Munich and Lucerne. In 2006, Houghton won the second of her four world championships in the GB women's quadruple scull, partnered by Flood, Winckless and Grainger. Initially, they finished second to the Russian crew, at Eton Dorney, who were then retrospectively disqualified in 2007 for drug offences. In the 2007

series the quadruple scull team of Houghton, Katherine Grainger, Debbie Flood, and

Annabel Vernon Annabel Morwenna Vernon (born 1 September 1982) is a retired British rower. She was born in Truro, Cornwall. She was educated at St Minver Primary School then Wadebridge School, Downing College, Cambridge, and King's College London (MA Int ...

won gold at Linz, silver at Amsterdam and gold at Lucerne, thus winning the overall quad title for the series, then became World Champion for the third time in the quad. At the 2007 World Rowing Championships in Munich Houghton won the third of her four world titles in the GB women's quadruple scull, partnered by Katherine Grainger, Debbie Flood, and

. In the 2008

series, the quadruple scull team of Houghton, Grainger, Flood, and Vernon won Gold in Munich and bronze in Lucerne. At the

Beijing 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 ...

Houghton, Grainger, Flood, and Vernon won silver after being overhauled by the Chinese crew in the last couple of hundred metres of the race.

2010 onwards

Having had a year off in 2009, Houghton returned in 2010 to take her fourth World Championship Gold in the women's quadruple sculls, at Lake Karapiro, New Zealand, this time with Debbie Flood,

Beth Rodford 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 finishe ...

, and Annabel Vernon. At the

2012 Olympic Games 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 ...

in London the women's quadruple scull team of Houghton, Melanie Wilson, Debbie Flood and Beth Rodford finished 6th. In 2013, she teamed up with Victoria Meyer-Laker in the double sculls, taking Bronze in the

at Penrith Lakes in Sydney, Australia, followed in June by Gold at

, London. At the third round in Lucerne they finished fourth. In July 2013 at the

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It differs from the thr ...

she teamed up with

Polly Swann Polly Swann (born 5 June 1988) is a British rower and a member of the Great Britain Rowing Team. 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 t ...

, Victoria Meyer-Laker and

Helen Glover Helen Glover (born 17 June 1986) is a British professional rower and a member of the Great Britain Rowing Team. Ranked the number 1 female rower in the world in 2015–16, she is a two-time Olympic champion, triple World champion, quintuple ...

to win the

Princess Grace Challenge Cup The Princess Grace Challenge Cup is a rowing event for women's quadruple sculls at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to female crews from all eligible rowing clubs. Two or more clubs may com ...

for women's

quadruple scull A quadruple sculling boat, often simply called a quad and abbreviated 4x, is a rowing boat 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 hand. Rac ...

. Competing as

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 t ...

and

Minerva Bath Rowing Club Minerva Bath Rowing Club is a rowing club in Bath, England The club The club was founded in 1914 as Bath Ladies Boat Club (BLBC). It is one of the earliest women's rowing clubs in England and had strong links with the suffragette movement in t ...

they completed the final course in 6 minutes 59 seconds.Henley Royal Regatta, Official results, 2013
In 2016 Competing in her 5th

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

at Rio, Houghton won a silver medal in the Women's Eight. Having retired from competitive rowing in 2016, Houghton was awarded an MBE in the 2018

New Years Honours List The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark thi ...

for 'services to rowing'.

Professional chef

Frances took time out of her sporting career in 2009 to train as a Chef at

Ballymaloe Cookery School The Ballymaloe Cookery School () is a privately run cookery school in Shanagarry, County Cork, Ireland, that was opened in 1983. It is run by Darina Allen, a celebrity chef, cookery book author and pioneer of the slow food movement in Ireland. ...

in Ireland.

References

External links

Profile at DatabaseOlympics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Houghton, Frances 1980 births Living people People educated at The Dragon School People educated at The King's School, Canterbury Alumni of King's College London English female rowers Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic rowers of Great Britain Sportspeople from Oxford Rowers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in rowing Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Members of Leander Club Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics World Rowing Championships medalists for Great Britain Members of the Order of the British Empire