"My name is Lola Anderson and I think it would be my biggest dream in life to go to the Olympics in rowing and if possible win a gold for GB,” she scribbled in 2012 as Helen Glover and Heather Stanning crossed the line to win gold at the London Olympics. 

She tore the page out, threw it in the bin and forgot about it. Seven years later, her dad, Don, reached into his safety deposit box and gave the note back to her. He had stored it away and kept it the whole time. Her father died of cancer two months later and the note is now her most treasured possession and gave her the motivation to follow her dream and qualify for the Olympics.

"I don't hold on to it with sadness, I hold on to it with pride. All parents love their children beyond the world, and he obviously had that belief in me from when I couldn't see it myself," the 26-year-old, who rows for Leander Club in Henley-on-Thames, told BBC Sport London.

Anderson was introduced to the sport by her father who rowed during his days studying at university in Durban, South Africa. After initially not being interested, she was captivated by the 2012 Olympics in London.

"I very much got into it through my family's love and connection with the sport. I was not very good at it to begin with. But my dad would encourage me to put myself back in the boat again after each capsize and keep going and enjoy sport for sport, not the results,” she said of her beginnings. 

Anderson began rowing at the Surbiton High School Boat Club and it was then that she watched Glover and Stanning's gold medal win. She may have been late for training that day but the seeds had been sown for a career in which she won gold at last year's World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia and became a European champion in April.

She and her fellow world champions Hannah Scott, Lauren Henry and Georgie Brayshaw will again compete together for Team GB in the women's quadruple sculls in Paris with their sights set on the gold. 

"We have a saying in our boat and in our team that 'pressure is a privilege' and I'd much rather we had the pressure to succeed based off of everyone's belief in us, than we have to come in as the underdog. We are gritty, we are competitive. I'm very proud to be in the position that we're in now," she said. Anderson is now halfway towards completing her diary dream and says her father would have been really proud. 

"I think he'd be really, really proud, yeah. Rowing obviously was a key sport for him but he, just like any other parent, like my mum (Jill) and everyone who has supported me along the way, just wants the best for their loved ones. If he could see me now he'd know I was happy and that's all he'd want,” she said emotionally.