The golden girl (From Warrington Guardian)

The golden girl

11:09am Friday 6th February 2009 in Sport Exclusive By Mike Parsons

OLIVIA Oakes is the first rower to become Warrington Sports Personality of the Year.

And the 18-year-old from Grappenhall has no intention of resting on her laurels after a fantastic 2008.

“This year I’m carrying on trialling for Great Britain to see if I can get in the under 23s team for the World Championships next summer,” said the excited Warrington Rowing Club star after being crowned Sports Personality champion at The Halliwell Jones Stadium on Friday.

Although revealing she did not expect to win the award, Olivia added: “Last year was the best I’ve had so far, going to the World Championships and also qualifying for the Australian Youth Olympic Festival.”

The former Lymm High School pupil, who is now a first-year student at University College London, won a gold medal in the quadruple sculls event in Sydney last month.

She finished fifth in the double sculls in the World Junior Rowing Championships in Austria in July after proving herself to be among the top six juniors in the country.

And two months earlier she helped GB to fifth place in the girls’ quadruple sculls at the Munich International Junior Regatta.

Olivia, who gained her first international selection in Holland in 2006 and won two gold medals in a European Championships event in Italy in 2007, is considered to be a potential member of Team GB for London 2012.