Glover in 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Helen Rachel Mary Backshall | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | British | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Helen Rachel Mary Glover (1986-06-17)17 June 1986 (age 39) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 11 st 0 lb; 154 lb (70 kg)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Great Britain | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Rowing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turned pro | 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Partner(s) | Heather Stanning 2010–2012, 2014–2016 Polly Swann 2013–2014, 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Paul Stannard 2008–2010 Robin Williams 2010–2013, 2014, 2021 Paul Thompson 2014 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Olympic finals | Champion (W2–) 2012, 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World finals | Champion (W2–) 2013, 2014, 2015 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest world ranking | World #1 female in 2015–2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personalbest | 6:50.61 at2014 World Rowing Championships | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Helen Rachel Mary Backshall (néeGlover; born 17 June 1986) is a British professionalrower and a member of the Great Britain Rowing Team.[1] Ranked the number 1 female rower in the world in 2015–16, she is a two-time Olympic champion, triple World champion, quintuple World Cup champion and quintuple European champion. She and her partnerHeather Stanning were the World, Olympic, World Cup and European record holders, plus the Olympic, World and European champions in the women's coxless pairs. She has also been aBritish champion in both women's fours and quadruple sculls.[2]
At the2012 Summer Olympics, in partnership with Heather Stanning, she set the Olympic record and won the gold medal in the women's coxless pairs, the inaugural gold medal won byTeam GB in 2012 and the first Olympic gold medal for British women's rowing. In December 2012 she won theBBCOlympic Superstars game show.[3] At the2013 World Rowing Championships inSouth Korea, she became the world champion with her partnerPolly Swann, with whom she also won the2014 European Rowing Championships atBelgrade and thus became the first woman to hold the Olympic, World and European titles for the coxless pair. She retained her world title and set the world record time in partnership with Heather Stanning at the2014 World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam. They retained their world title at the2015 World Rowing Championships in Lac d'Aiguebelette, France. In 2016, they retained theirEuropean title at Brandenburg an der Havel, set the World Rowing Cup record time at Poznań and again won gold at theOlympics inRio de Janeiro. She retired after the Olympics to begin a family.
In 2021 it was announced that she had restarted training, and on 11 April she regained theEuropean Coxless Pair title in Varese withPolly Swann. She and Swann finished fourth in theSummer Olympics in Tokyo, the first mother to row for Britain. Glover said "Everyone will remember the year of the pandemic for their own reasons, but for me I'm going to think 'that was the year that took me to another Olympics' And that's bonkers."
Glover was born inTreliske Hospital,Truro to Rachel (née Tucker), aphysiotherapist who trained atGuy's Hospital, and Jimmy Glover, a school teacher andOxford University graduate. She grew up inPenzance in a competitive athletic family with older brother Benjamin, younger twin brother Nathan, and younger sisters, Ruth and Freya.
Her father is a retired school teacher (English) turnedice cream vendor. Jelbert's Ices ofNewlyn was started by Glover's great-grandfather. Her father was an all-round sportsman who played tennis atJunior Wimbledon, playedfootball forPenzance 'Magpies' FC and captained thePenzance Piratesrugby team. He captained theUniversity of Oxford in both the 1960Varsity Match and against South Africa; he made 199 appearances forBristol; played for 'Devon & Cornwall' against the 'All Blacks'; played forthe Barbarians; and captainedCornwall in the County Championship whilst winning 41caps.[4][5][6]
Educated atHeamoor Community Primary School andHumphry Davy School inPenzance,[7][8] Glover won a sports scholarship toMillfield School inSomerset between 2002 and 2004 due to her running and hockey prowess.[9] She participated in a variety of sports: as a junior she ran cross-country and middle-distance track both for Cornwall and internationally for England, winning a junior international gold medal for England in cross-country running; she played tennis for Cornwall; she swam for Cornwall; she captained the Cornish hockey team; and by the age of 14 was part of the England Satellite Squad forhockey. Her best UK athletic rankings were 23rd for 800 metres, 9th for 1500 metres and 18th for 3000 metres.[3][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]
Her former PE teacher, Kate Finch, said: "She always had this phenomenal all-round talent, totally committed and totally reliable. You knew if you had Helen in any team you were safe. She took part in everything. She excelled in hockey and cross country. Helen was so hard working and so coachable. If you asked her to do something, she would do it."[17]
Glover said, "When I was at school I was quite strong-minded, I started up sports teams, I played in the boys' football team. I wouldn't let anyone tell me I couldn't do anything".[18]
AtUniversity of Wales Institute, Cardiff Glover studied Sport and Exercise Science, and then studied for aPGCE at theUniversity College Plymouth St Mark & St John, in order to teachphysical education tosecondary school children.
In July 2008, between graduating from the University of Wales and starting at University College Plymouth, Glover, at her mother's suggestion, applied to theSporting Giants scheme, whereby she was placed onGB Rowing Team's"Start" programme under coach Paul Stannard atMinerva Bath Rowing Club inBath, Somerset. Thus, whilst attending University College in Plymouth, she transferred her 'teaching placement' toOldfield School, Bath. After winning Olympic gold she confessed to having achieved the Sporting Giant criterion of 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) by standing on tiptoes while being measured – she is 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m).[1][19][20][21][22][23]
She was fourth at the British Indoor Rowing Championships on 26 October 2008.[24]
In 2009, she won the Bernard Churcher Trophy in the senior single scull at theHenley Women's Regatta.[25]
In February 2010, Glover gave up her teaching job and lived with no income while focussing exclusively on training for the national team selection trials. In March she rowed with theReading University eight and finished third at theWomen's Eights Head of the River Race.[26]
In April she finished 5th at the GB Rowing Team Senior Trials, won a place on the team, gainedLottery funding and was paired withHeather Stanning in the women'scoxless pair.[27] In May at theWorld Rowing Cup inBled they finished 9th, and in June they finished 5th atMunich, but were unable to race atLucerne in July due to Glover's illness.[citation needed]
Robin Williams started coaching Glover and Stanning in July when they were ranked 16th and 17th in their event, and were also regarded as reserves for the women's eight. They improved so rapidly that by November they won a silver medal at the2010 World Rowing Championships atLake Karapiro in New Zealand, finishing in 7:20.24 three seconds behindJuliette Haigh andRebecca Scown of New Zealand.[1][28][29]
In 2011, Glover and Stanning won the coxless pair event at the GB Rowing Team Senior Trials at Eton-Dorney with a time of 7 minutes 15 seconds. They went on to win both the Munich and LucerneWorld Rowing Cup regattas, beating the reigning world champions Haigh and Scown of New Zealand. Great Britain did not enter round 2 of the World Cup in Hamburg due to anE. coli outbreak in the area.[30]
Glover and Stanning finished second in the2011 World Rowing Championships atLake Bled,Slovenia, 0.1 seconds behind the winning New Zealand crew of Haigh and Scown, despite both getting a stomach bug when they arrived in Slovenia.[1][31] Their coach Robin Williams described it as "a gold medal performance without getting the gold medal". In 2015, after retaining their world championship, Stanning said "Thinking back four years we were clear water ahead but lost it on the line. We certainly haven’t forgotten that lesson."[28][32]

In 2012, Glover and Stanning again won the coxless pair event at the GB Rowing Team selection trials at Eton Dorney on 10–11 March, and went on to complete a clean sweep of all three events in the women's coxless pair of theWorld Rowing Cup. Winning gold atBelgrade Sava, Serbia in May;Lucerne Rotsee, Switzerland in May; andMunich Oberschleissheim, Germany in June.[33][34]
On 1 August 2012, Glover and Stanning won the gold medal in thewomen's coxless pair at the2012 Summer Olympics. Having already set a new Olympic record of 6 minutes 57.29 seconds in the heats, they finished the final ahead ofKate Hornsey andSarah Tait of Australia, andJuliette Haigh andRebecca Scown of New Zealand.[35][36][37] The architect of their victory, coachRobin Williams, had prepared them for the final by engaging them in the word gameBoggle for 45 minutes before their final call.[29] This wasTeam GB's first gold medal of London 2012, and the first ever Olympic gold medal for British women's rowing.[35][36] As with other gold medal winners,Royal Mailissued a commemorative stamp showing their celebrations, plus painting apost box gold in her home town ofPenzance.[38][39] Within a week of winning her medal she broke it and thus received a replacement.[18]
In December, Glover became the women's champion of theBBC'sOlympic Superstars 2012 by winning the 800-metre run in 2 mins 24 seconds, plus the swimming, cycling and gym rounds – she also out-performed the men in both the swimming and gym rounds.The Daily Telegraph described her as the "nicely-spoken pony-tailed epitome of the sporting Englishwoman".[3][14]
In April 2013, Glover won the women's single scull at the GB Rowing Team Trials held at theRedgrave Pinsent Rowing Lake,Caversham, Berkshire.[40]
Teamed withPolly Swann in the women's coxless pair, Glover completed a second clean sweep of three victories at theWorld Rowing Cup, winning gold atPenrith Lakes, Australia in March; Eton Dorney, London in June; andLucerne Rotsee in July. Glover said "I wanted Polly to know that she wasn’t just a Heather substitute, she wasn't just filling in. ... when Polly and I raced together for the first time and we were fast it was very exciting. I had to adapt. Polly can provide enormous power all the way down the course, but our final product was not a million miles from the way Heather and I raced."[34][40][41]
In July at theHenley Royal Regatta she teamed up with Polly Swann,Victoria Meyer-Laker andFrances Houghton to win thePrincess Grace Challenge Cup for women'squadruple scull. Competing asLeander Club andMinerva Bath Rowing Club they completed the final course in 6 minutes 59 seconds.[42]
On 31 August, teamed with Polly Swann in the women's coxless pair, she became the world champion at the2013 World Rowing Championships atChungju inSouth Korea. They completed the final in 7 mins 22.82 secs, finishing ahead ofRoxana Cogianu andNicoleta Albu of Romania, and having overhauled the American boat which had led briefly in the early stages.[43][44]
In September 2013, she was theInternational Rowing Federation's Athlete of the Month and featured on its World Rowing site.[13] Sir David Tanner, British Rowing performance director, said "Nuggets are individuals that you can't always programme. We may never find another Helen Glover who progresses so rapidly."[45]
In December 2013, Glover and Swann were voted as Team of the Year by the SportsSister organisation; additionally Glover won the 'Readers Choice' vote. Glover and Swann also received the Chairman's award from theSports Journalists' Association (SJA).[46][47]
On 17 March 2014, Glover was part of the composite crew that won theWomen's Eights Head of the River Race on theRiver Thames in London, setting a record time of 17:42.2 for the 4 1⁄4-mile (6.8 km)Championship Course fromMortlake toPutney. The crew comprisedHeather Stanning – Army RC;Beth Rodford – Gloucester RC; Zoe Lee – Imperial College BC;Jessica Eddie – London RC; Helen Glover – Minerva-Bath RC; Olivia Carnegie-Brown – Oxford Brookes University BC; Tina Stiller – Tees RC; Caragh McMurtry – Reading University BC; coxPhelan Hill –Leander Club.[48]
On 19 April 2014, Glover and Heather Stanning, coached by Paul Thompson, won the women's pair at the British rowing trials at Caversham; they took seven minutes 56.08 seconds and finished 1.14 seconds ahead of Polly Swann and Jessica Eddie. Stanning said "It was brilliant to be back racing with Helen. It feels like old times, but at the same time it's so refreshing because we've both learnt new things while we've been apart."[49][50]
In May, Stanning's training schedule was reduced in intensity, causing her to be replaced by Polly Swann for theEuropean Rowing Championships atAda Ciganlija,Belgrade on 30 May.[51] In their heat Swann and Glover set a new European best time of 7 minutes 9 seconds, and in the final on 1 June they lowered it to 7 minutes 3.62 seconds, finishing 5 seconds ahead of the reigning European championChristina Grigoras andLaura Oprea of Romania. This made Glover the first British rower to hold the Olympic, World and European titles simultaneously.[52][53][54][55]
Teamed withHeather Stanning in the women's coxless pair, Glover won gold at the second and third rounds of theWorld Rowing Cup atLac d'Aiguebelette in France in June andLucerneRotsee on 13 July, which also clinched the overall title despite TeamGB not entering the first event in Australia in March. At Aiguebelette they qualified directly for the final which they completed in 7 minutes 6.9 seconds, finishing two seconds ahead of the AmericansGrace Luczak and world number one ranked rowerCaroline Lind.[56][57] At Lucerne they again qualified directly for the final which, despite Glover's illness, they completed in 7 minutes 12.99 seconds, finishing a length ahead of the New Zealand 2 crew ofGrace Prendergast andKerri Gowler.[58][59][60][61][62][63]
On 30 September, Glover, partnered by Heather Stanning, retained her world title at the2014 World Rowing Championships held at theBosbaan,Amsterdam. They won both their heat and the semi-final and set anew world record time of 6:50.61 in the final, breaking the 2002,[64][65] record by three seconds, the 6:53.80 set by the RomaniansGeorgeta Andrunache andViorica Susanu at Lucerne, Switzerland. They defeated the silver medallists,Megan Kalmoe andKerry Simmonds of the United States, by over two seconds. Glover said: "I knew we were ready but there was so much expectation, so winning is definitely a relief."[64][65][66][67]
At theBritish Rowing Championships on 18–19 October atHolme Pierrepont (Nottingham), Glover was part of the composite crew that won gold in both the women's fours sweep event and the quad sculls. Racing under the acronym LIMA, the crew comprised:Jessica Eddie – London RC; Zoe Lee – Imperial College BC; Helen Glover – Minerva-Bath RC; andHeather Stanning – Army RC.[2][68][69]
At the end of 2014, Glover was officially ranked #2 female rower in the world by World Rowing, behindCaroline Lind and ahead ofMeghan Musnicki.[56][57]
On 14 February 2015, Glover recorded her first victory in the GB Rowing, single scull, open-weight assessment trial held on theRiver Witham atBoston, Lincolnshire. She completed the 5-kilometre course in 20 minutes 16 seconds, finishing 14 seconds clear of nearest rivalKatherine Grainger.[70][71]
On 14 March 2015, Glover was part of the composite crew that won theWomen's Eights Head of the River Race on the River Thames in London, setting a time of 18:58.6 for the 4 1⁄4-mile (6.8 km)Championship Course fromMortlake toPutney. The crew comprised:Heather Stanning – Army RC; Helen Glover – Minerva-Bath RC; Zoe Lee – Imperial College BC;Katherine Grainger – Marlow RC;Melanie Wilson – Imperial College BC; Caragh McMurtry – Southampton Coalporters ARC; Olivia Carnegie-Brown – Oxford Brookes University BC;Jessica Eddie – London RC; coxPhelan Hill –Leander Club.[72][73]
On 19 April 2015, Glover and Heather Stanning won the women's pair at the British rowing trials at Caversham, they took 7 minutes 36.09 seconds and finished ten seconds ahead of Jessica Eddie and Louisa Reeve, followed by Katie Greves and Zoe Lee. Glover said: "We not only have great respect for each other as athletes but we are great friends on and off the water. I can genuinely say I want to win these races as much for Heather as for myself. We know how much we put into every session – it isn’t just our day job, it’s our passion."[74]
On 31 May, Glover, partnered by Heather Stanning, retained her European title at the2015 European Rowing Championships held inPoznań, Poland. They won both their heat and the semi-final and set anew European record time of 6:58.28 in the final. They defeated the silver medallists,Noemie Kober andMarie Le Nepvou of the Netherlands, by over six seconds. Glover said: "It's good to keep tallying them up and keep it exciting, but we don't go flat out on the start line thinking the aim of the day is to break records." Quadruple Olympic gold medallist SirMatthew Pinsent, reporting inThe Times, described Glover and Stanning as "within reach of sporting immortality".[75][76][77][78]
On 21 June, Glover and Stanning won gold in the women's coxless pair at the second round of theWorld Rowing Cup atLake Varese in Italy. Their winning time, 06:53.67, was half a second off the World Cup Best Time, defeatingMegan Kalmoe andKerry Simmonds of the USA 2 by 1.6 seconds, less than a length.[79][80][81] On 12 July they again won gold at the third round of the World Rowing Cup, at Lake Rotsee in Lucerne, which also gave them overall victory in the World Cup series, Glover's fifth series win in five years. They finished in 6:57.59 minutes, defeatingGrace Prendergast andKerri Gowler of New Zealand by 2.7 seconds.[82][83][84]
Glover and Stanning retained their World title at the2015 World Rowing Championships inLac d'Aiguebelette, France, on 5 September. They won their heat in 7:04 minutes and qualified directly for the semi-final which they won in 07:06 minutes. They lead the final from the start and finished in 6:52.99, 2 seconds outside their own world record, defeating the New Zealand silver medalists,Grace Prendergast andKerri Gowler, by 3.8 seconds. Multiple Olympic gold medalistSir Steve Redgrave said "Glover and Stanning dominate any combination that is put up against them.", whilst their coachRobin Williams said "The coach shouldn’t be that impressed I suppose, since I see them every day, but I’m just lost for words, quite stunning.".Sir David Tanner, British Rowing's performance director, declared it "one of the best GB performances of all-time ... utterly exceptional,".[32][85][86][87][88]
After retaining her world title in 2015, Glover was officially ranked #1 female rower in the world by World Rowing, ahead of AmericansLauren Schmetterling andAmanda Polk.[56]
On 20 November 2015, the World Rowing Federation (FISA) announced that Glover and Stanning had won the award for '2015 World Rowing Female Crew of the Year'.[89]
Glover and Stanning were the dominant women's pair in the GB Team Selection Trials held at the Redgrave Pinsent Rowing Lake at Caversham over 22–23 March 2016. They finished in 7 minutes 13 seconds, ten seconds ahead of Polly Swann and Jessica Eddy. Glover commented that it was "... the start of the season, rather than a peak ..." and Stanning noted their "great working combination with coach Robin (Williams)," and the "excitement of getting back into the boat each year."[90][91]
On 8 May 2016, Glover and Stanning won theEuropean Rowing Championships atBrandenburg an der Havel to retain their European title. In windy conditions they completed the final in 7 minutes 35.93 seconds, eight seconds ahead ofKerstin Hartmann andKathrin Marchand of Germany. Glover told the BBC that"There were waves coming over my back at the start but racing here has up-skilled us. We may have cross-wind conditions at the Rio Olympics so it was good to race in them."[92][93]
In the World Rowing Cup II at Lucerne, Switzerland, from 27 to 29 May, Glover and Stanning won both their heat and their semi-final but were unable to start in the final due to Stanning's sickness.[94][95]
On 19 June 2016, Glover and Stanning won the final of the World Cup III event at Poznań, Poland, setting a new World Cup Best time of 6 minutes 52.79 seconds to finish 1.6 seconds ahead of the newly crowned World Cup Champions –Genevieve Behrent andRebecca Scown of New Zealand. Although undefeated in the World Cup series, Glover and Stanning did not enter the first round at Varese, and did not start the final of round II at Lucerne due to sickness, thus they did not accrue sufficient points for overall series victory.[96][97][98][99]
On 12 August, Glover and Stanning won theOlympic final inRio de Janeiro. They completed the final in 7 minutes 18.29 seconds, over a second ahead ofGenevieve Behrent andRebecca Scown of New Zealand.[100]
In January 2021 it was announced that Glover had restarted training. At the2021 European Rowing Championships inVarese, Italy, she won the gold medal in the coxless pair (W2-) teamed withPolly Swann. They won their heat in 7 minutes 8.91 seconds, the fastest qualifiers. They completed the final in 7 mins 2.73 seconds, having eventually overhauled theRomanian crew ofAdriana Ailincai andIuliana Buhus by 0.29 seconds.[101] In interviews they noted that Swann had not raced for two years and Glover had not for five years, since the Olympic final in Brazil.[102]
In June 2021, she and Swann were selected for the women's pair for theSummer Olympics in Tokyo, making her the first mother to row for Britain.[103][104] On 28 July, they qualified for theA Final by finishing second in their semi-final. In the final on 29 July, they finished in fourth position, completing in 6 minutes 54.96 seconds, which was 4.77 seconds behind theGold medalists,Grace Prendergast andKerri Gowler of New Zealand and 2.86 seconds behind the bronze medalistsCaileigh Filmer andHillary Janssens of Canada.[105] Afterwards Glover said "The reward is knowing that we crossed the line giving it our all. The frustration would have been coming away from thinking we had more and we didn't."[106]
In October 2022 Glover made her debut in theWorld Rowing Coastal Championships, and won silver in the women's solo class (CW1x) of the 'Beach Sprint' finals. The event, organised byWorld Rowing atSaundersfoot inPembrokeshire, Wales, was truncated on safety grounds due to severe weather, but she was ranked second behind the New Zealand OlympianEmma Twigg who took gold. The event incorporates sprinting on the beach to the water's edge, launching directly out to sea and rounding abuoy marker, before returning to shore and sprinting to the finish line.[107][108][109]
At the2023 World Rowing Championships in Belgrade, she won the World Championship bronze medal in thewomen's coxless four.[110]
Glover was selected as part of the women's coxless four in the Great Britain squad for the2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.[111][112] She was also chosen to be one ofTeam GB's flag-bearers at the opening ceremony alongside diverTom Daley.[113][114][115]
On 16 September 2015, Glover and TV naturalistSteve Backshall announced their engagement onTwitter fromNamibia, having met at aSport Relief event in 2014.[116][117][118] They married on 10 September 2016 atPiskies Cove in West Cornwall.[119]
On 13 March 2018 it was announced that Backshall and Glover were expecting twins.[120] On 9 April Glover stated that one of the twins had died, but that she and Backshall were "hopeful for the remaining baby to arrive this summer".[121]On 24 July 2018 she announced on social media that she had given birth to a boy.[122] On 16 January 2020 she gave birth to twins (a boy and a girl).[123]
Glover was the focus of aBBC TV documentary,Helen Glover: Mother of All Comebacks, broadcast on 19 July 2021, prior to the2020 Tokyo Olympics. It covered her return to training after having children and four years out of the sport.[102]
Glover was appointedMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to rowing, which she received fromQueen Elizabeth II atWindsor Castle on 10 April 2013.[124][125]
In August 2012, her Olympic victory was marked byRoyal Mail which issued a commemorative postage stamp[126] and painted apost box gold on Quay Street, Penzance (50°06′58″N5°31′52″W / 50.1161°N 5.5310°W /50.1161; -5.5310 (Helen Glover, Penzance)).[38][39]
On 26 June 2013, she was awarded aBlue Peter badge, and on 26 September 2014, she was also awarded aBlue Peter gold badge.[127][128]
In August 2013,fuchsia "Helen Glover" was awarded Certificate 8162 by theAmerican Fuchsia Society. It washybridized by W.E.Negus (Ernie) ofHayle Cornwall, and is described as a single flower containing a light violetcorolla, a light rose tube and a yellowish whitesepal redolent ofCornish ice cream.[129][130][131]
On 27 March 2016, Glover and Stanning presented winners' trophies to theCambridge men's andOxford women's crews in theVarsity Boat Races.
Glover, along with husband Steve Backshall, is an ambassador forThe Scout Association.
Glover was appointedOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the2025 New Year Honours for services to rowing.[132]
| Olympic Games | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Flagbearer for (withTom Daley) París 2024 | Succeeded by Incumbent |