16/05/2026
This week’s story goes back in time to our alumni Belinda Holmes.
Belinda Holmes represented Great Britain 🇬🇧 at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, competing in the women’s eight that finished in fifth place.
Success started as junior rower as part of a WLARC coxed four crew at the National Rowing Championships in 1979. Other crew members were Jane Cross, Kate Panter, Joanna Toch, and cox Andrea Jones. These ladies achieved a remarkable treble by winning the junior coxed fours & taking the junior eights by 15 seconds, earning selection for the FISA Youth Championships.
Belinda and the other members of this successful four went on to race in the senior women’s eight at 1981 World Rowing Championships, taking first place, and then went on to win the quadruple sculls event the following year. At the 1985 National Rowing Championships Belinda won the coxless pairs event in a Weybridge Ladies/ Marlow composite crew with Flo Johnston.
Her early career hadn’t been without its challenges, however. At the age of 18 while training in a double with Kate Panter for their second World Championships, a collision with a barge left their boat severely damaged so at the event itself they had to row in a borrowed boat. After a storming start, things were going well and they were ahead after 100m, but unfortunately more bad luck was to come. Before they reached the finish line, Belinda’s gate broke and they capsized.
Considering the great number of rowing successes that Belinda achieved in the years to follow, this early spell of bad luck clearly didn’t deter her from continuing her racing career!
