Vicky Thornley helped Great Britain end the World Rowing Championships on a high with a performance and a result that she ranked second only to her medal at the Olympics.
The former Bishop Heber High School and Abbey Gate College student won silver in the double scull at the Rio Games last year alongside Great Britain’s most decorated female Olympian, Dame Katherine Grainger.
But Thornley has since moved back to the single scull and her season to savour continued in Sarasota, Florida on Sunday.
Having won gold at the European Championships and two World Cup silver earlier in the campaign, the 29-year-old from Holt added to her growing medal collection by finishing second in the final behind Switzerland’s Jeannie Gmelin.
Thornley said: “I’m really happy with that.
“If you’d have said at the start of the season that I would come away from the Worlds with a silver medal I would have taken it.
“It wasn’t enough today to get one over on the Swiss girl. I closed the gap quite a bit but it just wasn’t enough in the end.
“This is right up there for me and after the Olympics this is my best result. I’m definitely happy after that one.”
Grainger, Thornley’s partner in the double scull Rio, said: “Vicky has had an incredible season.
“Hopefully she’ll be over the moon to get on the podium for the first time ever in this event.”
Steve Redgrave, a five-time Olympic champion, added: “I would have liked to have seen a little bit more fight in the third 500m.
“But the longer she stays in the single putting performances in like that, I can only see her getting stronger.”
Thornley’s silver and a bronze for Tom Barras in the men’s single scull final took Great Britain’s medal tally to seven for the Championships.
