Putney Exchange gets behind one of top GB rowers Jess Eddie

The Putney Exchange Shopping Centre has announced it is sponsoring one of Britain's top rowers, Jess Eddie, who trains out of Putney-based London Rowing Club. The Exchange is investing several thousand pounds in supporting and promoting Jess’s career. She is now in training for next year’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.



Elite rower Jess, 30, has represented GB at London 2012 and in the World Rowing Champs and World Cup Series. She has her sights firmly set on a medal in Rio and the new sponsorship deal will enable her to buy her own boat, which will prove a massive boost to her career and training programme.

Jess has represented GB in London 2012 and more recently in the World Rowing Champs and World Cup Series. She’s currently training with the GB Squad and has her sights firmly set on a medal at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. When Jess won her first race, her prize was a chocolate bar. Now she’s clinched a bigger reward for her sporting efforts. She is also a Crewroom Ambassador.

Jess started rowing as an eight-year-old schoolgirl on the River Wear in her native County Durham. And today, she gains some of her inspiration from following a family tradition, in the footsteps of her great grandfather, who was a rower in the late 19th century. “His name was Watson and I was always told about him when I was a child by my Nana (my grandmother on my mother’s side). It must have been tough for them back then. He used to row on the Tyne and do races there. They would race against the gentry. The North-East was one of the places where professional rowing began. Now it's nice to think about him lots of generations later,” says Jess. “Maybe deep down, rowing is in my genes.”

Anne Partridge, Putney Exchange Centre Manager, said today: “We are proud of the borough’s rowing history and heritage .......... Jess is an extremely talented and committed sportswoman and we are delighted to sponsor her and help her realise her ambitions of owning her own boat to enhance her chances of being selected to represent Team GB in the Rio in 2016."

March 19, 2015