Local sisters, Olivia and Morgan Baynham-Williams, have earned huge success with rowing at the same time.

At 12:00pm, Olivia Baynham-Williams set off to row the Irish Sea from Arklow, Ireland to Aberystwyth, Wales, competing in the prestigious biennial ‘Celtic Challenge’ on Sunday May 5th. This race covers over 90 nautical miles. This is the world’s longest true rowing race with competitors using 24 feet Celtic Longboats with four fixed seats and one cox.

Each team consists of 12 people who take it in turns to row, four at a time, each stint about an hour each, continually rotating until they reach the end. The time between each rotation is spent on a support boat following their crew.

The following weekend, Olivia’s older sister, Morgan Baynham-Williams continued her rowing success at the Wedau International Regatta, Duisburg, Germany where she coxed the Great British women’s eight to Gold on both Saturday and Sunday. Morgan raced against two crews from Germany, France and two crews from the Netherlands in both finals, championing them both.

Morgan, who currently lives in Henley-On-Thames, is also a member of Ross Rowing Club, and continues her incredible journey as she has sights on the Olympics as she continues training full time with Leander Club and with the GB squad at Caversham almost immediately.

Morgan and Olivia were continually supporting one another’s huge sporting spectaculars and successes on the phone. Sisters supporting each other from afar.See the full story in this week’s edition of the Ross Gazette, or subscribe to our online edition here