A number of our juniors attended the British Junior Championships at the National Water Centre in Nottingham. With a huge number of entries, this year, the racing was very competitive with many crews being ruthlessly eliminated after the time trials. All of our crews rowed really impressively and all made it through to finals which is a brilliant result in itself.
Day1: Jess and Lucy competed in the WJ18 2x and Alex and Ollie in the OJ16 2x and Jessica in the WJ16 1x. After a long trip to France, a 15 hour coach journey and only 3 hours sleep, Lucy managed to race with Jess in the time trial the following morning to get into an F final. Not the best preparation, but a great experience for them both!
Alex and Ollie then stormed their time trial to come 4th and then came 2nd in their semi-final race to get through to the A final, where they came an impressive second to win a British championship SILVER medal (🥳💪🥈). They lost out on the gold to the notoriously good (and very large!) Shanklin doubIe. With Ollie also rowing up a year, this was a tremendous result. I gather there were “man tears” from all involved afterwards as this brings Alex and Ollie’s season of doubling to an end 😢, but what a great way for them to finish their season! Congratulations to them both.
Jessica then competed in the WJ16 1x. Also a hugely competitive category. She had a really strong time trial coming 12th overall and then came 6th in her semi-final to make the B final. She placed 11th over all. She raced like the wind and did absolutely brilliantly! A really powerful performance. Well done Jessica! 💪🤩.
Day 2: First up we had the WJ18 1x which saw Abi and Jess compete in an early morning time trial. Abi had a brilliant time trial to claim a place in a competitive C final, while Jess in her first ever attempt at a singles race managed to get into a high placing in the F final. Both girls rowed really impressively in their finals. Abi rowed bravely in a very fierce and fast heat to come 6th. Jess, despite having a rocky start, led for the first 500m with a close race against Kingston RC all the way down the course but with Kingston pulling away at the finish to place her second.
Caitlin and Jessica then raced the WJ16 2x to come in the top 30 crews out of 55 entries in their time trial. 13 crews got eliminated with the girls going through to an E final. This being Caitlin’s first ever Brit Champs, they put on a very impressive display of rowing as both girls made it their mission to hunt down their opposition. With Jessica giving the calls they gave a gutsy push for the finish to gain a wonderful 3rd place. Day 3: saw an exciting time trial with Seb and George placing top 24 out of 53 crews in the OJ14 2x with 18 crews being eliminated) to get to a D final. They had a dramatic race in their final, taking an early lead over the pack, then racing neck and neck at 500m before being just out-sprinted to a close finish. They put on a really good spurt at the finish but were just pipped to the line by a canvas by Barne Elms B and Falcon RC as they surged ahead placing the boys third. A great effort and so impressive in their first season!
Molly and Lucy also raced a stonking time trial in the WJ15 2x to come top 24 out of a massive 94 entries (with 54 crews being eliminated!). They reached the D final where they started well with all crews racing very closely until around half way where Warrington and Dart Totnes started pulling away. They then had a neck and neck battle with Kingston and Maidenhead crews which saw them being just pipped to the post to come 4th. Overall a really impressive result for them both.
With possibly the weight of great expectation on his shoulders, Ollie then raced in the OJ15 1x time-trial. Ollie did not disappoint, the commentator was suitably impressed as he admired Ollie’s “wonderful flow”☺️ (a number of times!!) Ollie came 4th overall in the Time Trial out of 56 crews with24 scullers being eliminated. He then rowed a semi-final where he looked comfortable until the last 250m where he had to put in a push to hold on to his 2nd place position to go through to the prestigious A final. Then a patient wait for the last race of the day…Ollie calmly rowed up to the start in the evening sun with the water looking calm and mirror-like and not a breath of wind. Could he claim another Brit Champs medal to round off the weekend?…..It was all to play for….starting in lane 3 Ollie was in the middle of the pack. The competitors started neck and neck with only a few seconds between them but then Durham ARC and Hinksey started to pull ahead with a commanding lead but the bronze medal was all to play for. Ollie was leading the race for bronze but with only a couple of seconds between him and the remaining scullers it was a nail-biting battle for third. In the last 250m the battle really started and Ollie was only just beaten across the line by George Watsons, pushing him into 4th place – only 1 second had denied him that bronze medal! A truly valiant attempt and a race to be proud of. Fantastic effort Ollie. You are a superstar!
Day4: Molly raced in the WJ15 1x, a very competitive event, and did brilliantly to come 3rd in the F final.
Then Oliver racd again, this time with his doubles partner Ethan from Hexham in the OJ15 2x. An incredible final saw Oliver and Ethan climb ba
ck from 4th place to cross the line in an amazing sprint finish for GOLD. Congratulations to them both. (And they got a free dryrobe too!) 🥳💪🏅
Finally a huge THANK YOU to all the coaches, parents and boat towers that made it possible for the juniors to have a such a great experience. They couldn’t do it without you!
Emma, our wonderful Junior Coordinator said: “I have to say how proud we all are of all of the Juniors who made the journey up to Brit Champs and managed themselves so well during the long days, the heat and the hustle and bustle. A great experience and some really encouraging results to work on for next season. Well done to you all, and a special mention to Alex as this was his last race before leaving ERC to head to Wycliffe school in September. What a great sculler/ rower you are and we are sure you will go from strength to strength from here! Good luck to you Alex! We will miss you, so don’t be a stranger!”
