Double Olympic gold medal winning yachtswoman, Shirley Robertson today announced her two new crew, her title sponsor, her two supporting partners and the news that she is due to give birth in July – to twins.

Annie Lush and Lucy Macgregor join Team Shirley
Robertson to campaign for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, with Volvo as their principal sponsor, along with the Isle of Wight Economic Partnership and BT as supporting partners. Together with her crew Shirley will be going for a third gold in Beijing, which would make her the greatest British female Olympian of all time. Annie Lush, 26, from Poole in Dorset has an impressive sailing pedigree. She is currently ISAF Woman’s Match World Champion and is also two times winner of the Rolex Cup: International Woman’s Keelboat Championships.

Annie started sailing as a child but became heavily involved in rowing with Cambridge University, receiving a Woman’s Blue for in 2001 for winning the Woman’s Boat Race. She hit a ‘rowing versus sailing’ crossroad during her last year at Cambridge, choosing sailing believing she was too small for rowing and wanted the greater intellectual challenge of sailing.

‘Lucy Macgregor, 19 also from Poole in Dorset is a product of the RYA youth squad, competing in Mirrors, 420s and 470s internationally. Lucy gained her place on the Yngling having beaten off stiff competition in what was dubbed the ‘Yngling X-Factor’ last October. Shirley comments: ‘Annie and I embarked on our own ‘X Factor’ competition to find our bow girl. Despite her age, Lucy was the immediate and obvious choice. She has a huge amount of natural talent and a completely unflappable nature. Her thirst for knowledge and her desire to be the best is infectious and it won’t be long before she’s telling me what to do!