Olympic gold medal rower Katherine Grainger is to become godmother of a new Avalon Waterways river boat.
She will christen Avalon Poetry II, one of three new river cruise suite vessels due to be launched next spring.
The ceremony is due to take place in Dordrecht, Holland on March 22 as part of a twin christening with sister ship, Avalon Impression.
The christening forms part of a four-day inaugural river cruise for both ships sailing from Cologne to Amsterdam on March 20-23.
Grainger, who won gold in the rowing double sculls at last year’s Olympic Games, said: “It is clear that Avalon Waterways share my passion in creating a winning formula on the water and I am very much looking forward to the christening.”
Avalon managing director Alan MacLean said: “We are delighted that Katherine will be godmother to our latest suite ship, Avalon Poetry II, and join us in our celebrations with travel industry partners.
“Being a world-class athlete and having achieved so much in her sport of rowing, Katherine continues to be an athlete ambassador to show others what can be achieved by drawing inspiration from London 2012.
“We hope that Katherine will enjoy being part of the Avalon experience and experiencing first hand the high standards we set ourselves in achieving our own excellence on water.”
The new ships will bring the fleet up to eight, each with two decks of suites sized from 200-300 square feet with wall-to-wall panoramic windows that open to create unique open air balconies.