Background
Gentry was born in Barnes, close to the River Thames, and participated in water sports when young, racing dinghies at the age of six.
Gentry was born in Barnes, close to the River Thames, and participated in water sports when young, racing dinghies at the age of six.
She then became a successful administrator of the sport. During, she was the secretary of the famous Vickers engineer, Barnes Wallis, and assisted him with his experiments to develop a bouncing bomb to destroy German dams. In 1919, Weybridge Rowing Club organised celebrations of the Allied victory in the First World War and she took part in a race of ladies" fours.
This was successful and she then helped establish the club"s ladies" section in 1920.
She founded a separate Weybridge ladies" rowing club in 1926 and later became its chair – a position she retained until her death. She also helped administer the sport of rowing, acting as secretary of the Women"s Amateur Rowing Association between 1926 and 1938, then chairing it and its successor body, the women"s committee of the Amateur Rowing Association, until retiring in 1968.
In 1960, she persuaded the International Rowing Federation to hold its women"s European championships in London. She was awarded the Order of the British Empire for services to rowing in 1969.
During, she worked at Vickers Armstrong as secretary for Barnes Wallis and assisted him with his famous experiments to make a bouncing bomb to destroy German dams.
Wallis would catapult wooden models across the water, which Gentry would then row out to retrieve. She rowed him out on Silvermere lake and took charge to ensure that they did not capsize, saying "Sit down Wallis! You"ll have us both in the water, and I"m in charge of this boat!". She died in hospital at Stanwell in 1976 at the age of 72.
In 1925, she was a member of a club team which defeated crews from France, Belgium, and the Netherlands at a royal charity regatta in Brussels.