100 Team GB contenders for London 2012: Helen Glover

Rowing (women's pair)

Born: 17/06/86

Career highlight

Glover won silver in the women's pair with Heather Stanning at their first senior World Championships in 2010, just two years after she first set foot in a rowing boat.

The duo became the first British rowers to qualify a boat for the Olympics - that came at the 2011 World Championships, where they went on to take silver again.

Other career

The Cornishwoman only started rowing in 2008 through the Sporting Giants scheme, which was set up by UK Sport to identify British sporting talent with a view to the London Olympics.

Potential athletes were asked to put themselves forward, providing they fulfilled the basic criteria of being tall, aged between 16 and 25 and with an athletic background. Glover's 2010 world silver made her the first athlete on the scheme to win a medal at a senior World Championships.

Did you know?

As a junior, she ran cross-country internationally and was part of the England Satellite Squad for hockey.