Kew Gardens yesterday (6 June) welcomed over 40 athletes to its Temperate House for the official announcement of the Team GB rowing squad for the Paris Olympics this summer.

With just 50 days to go until the start of the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, the unveiling of the team marks a key milestone in the buildup to the start of the rowing events, taking place at the National Olympic Nautical Stadium of Ile-de-France, from 27 July to 3 August. 

Athletes were also joined by a range of coaches and support staff, as well as excited family members, to mark the countdown until the start of the Paris Games.

Half of the squad named at Kew Gardens will be making their Olympic debuts during the games. 

The full squad included athletes from:

• Women's eight
• Men's eight
• Women's four
• Men's four
• Women's quadruple sculls
• Men's quadruple sculls
• Lightweight women's double sculls
• Women's double sculls
• Men's pair
• Women's pair
• Women's pair
• Reserves

Olympic rower Helen Glover meeting local rowers from Brentford Rowin Club at Kew Gardens (credit: RBG Kew).

As part of their commitment to opening access to the sport, the rowers, including two-time Olympic champion Helen Glover, also spent some time meeting local young athletes from Brentford Boat Club which is located just across the river. 

They said afterwards that the opportunity to meet their heroes was inspirational and helped them to imagine themselves as future Olympians.

Paris 2024 marks Glover's fourth Olympics, as she joins the women's four.  

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At Kew's Temperate House, situated close to the garden's boundary with the River Thames, the rowers posed for photographs and conducted interviews, speaking with members of the press about their intensive training and preparation, as well as their aspirations for the forthcoming Olympics.

Many of the rowers reflecting on their hopes for strong home support following the restrictions on crowds during the previous Tokyo 2020 games.  

The Temperate House at Kew Gardens is the world's largest Victorian Glasshouse and is home to 10,000 plants from Asia, Australasia, the Americas, and Africa.

These include some of the rarest and most endangered species in the world, including some which are already extinct in the wild.

Refurbished in 2018, the Temperate House tells the story of how Kew and its global partners are working together to conserve plants from some of the most remote locations in the world.  

To find out more about Kew Gardens, click here.

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