LAUREN Henry, from Rugby, set a new British record on the opening day of the European Rowing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
Henry recorded the third fastest time ever and a new British record in the women’s single sculls event.
The Rugby rower finished in a time of seven minutes 9.76 seconds to also set a new European best time.
Henry said: “It’s an exciting result for my first senior international single race. I’m so happy to execute my plan.
“Obviously, things can change through the regatta, but I’m really pleased with it, especially as last time I raced the single at under-23 level, I wasn’t happy with how it went.
“I’ve been focused this year on coming in and taking what I’d learnt from those experiences and making myself a better and hopefully a more competitive athlete.
“It’s been a lot of work and all credit goes to my coach Andrew Randell for being the brains behind this performance and being there for me every day in training.
“Andrew always says to me, it’s about having an ordinary performance on an extraordinary day, and I feel like that’s what we achieved.”
The British sculler blitzed her competitors to seal a place in semi-final of the women’s single sculls open event.
Henry previously raced in the quadruple sculls for Great Britain – winning gold at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
