Learning from the best after Stratford rower Booth finishes fifth at World Championships

ESME Booth says she will learn from the best after taking fifth place in her first-ever senior World Rowing Championships.

The Stratford rower and partner Emily Ford raced a brave final in the women’s pair event in Racice in the Czech Republic but had to settle for fifth place.

But the British pair led Olympic champions New Zealand to the first marker before dropping back to end in fifth in seven minutes 16.82 seconds. They ended up 13.06 seconds behind the Kiwi gold medallists at the finish line, with The Netherlands second, and USA third.

Ford and Booth, who had won a silver medal at the European Championships earlier this year, had also faced Kiwi pair Grace Prendergast and Kerri Williams, the reigning world champions, in the semi-finals, where the Brits crossed the line in third place.

Booth was not daunted by the prospect of competing with rowing heavyweights, but instead she was excited to test herself against such strong opposition.

“It’s just a really cool experience to have them (Prendergast and Williams), and they were in the lane next to us which is exciting, knowing that they’re the Olympic champions and they’re right next to you,” she said.

“It’s good to see how far you are off the mark, so you can go out and see what you can do which is good.”

The experience in Racice, following on from the Europeans in Munich, will provide another learning curve and inspiration for the 23-year-old Booth.

“It’s just about executing our race as best we can and making sure we step on from our performance,” she said.

“We want to be the best we can be and then see where we end up.”

GB finished top of the medals table in Racice, winning a record seven golds, one silver and four bronzes, just over a year on from disappointing results in the Tokyo Olympics.