Heather, now a Major in the Royal Artillery, and her rowing partner Helen Glover became Great Britain’s first female rowers to win back-to-back Olympic golds when they retained the coxless pairs title in Rio after their London 2012 triumph.
Success in Rio continued an outstanding partnership for Heather and Helen who, under the guidance of coach Robin Williams, are unbeaten since 2011 and have also won two World and two European titles together.
She said: “It’s really cool to come along to school sports days and I was really impressed by how everyone got involved whether it was welly-throwing or sprinting. There’s certainly a lot of talent here with girls breaking records and qualifying for national championships; there’s a lot to be said for school sports days – it’s where the champions of the future are found.”
Heather presented a whole host of prizes to girls of all ages who had tackled everything from sprints to javelin and from sack races to dance.
The day saw a number of new records set at the school and was particularly special for Prep 6 Emma Day, Prep 6 Celeste Woodall, Year 8 Keira Jeffery, Year 8 Lucy Day and Year 8 Katie Day who last month qualified for the National Preparatory School’s Athletics Championships.
The school’s Prep 5 swimmers were also proudly showing off their silverware on the day having returned victorious from the Cornwall School Games with silver medals for all their hard work.
