A number of our juniors attended the British Junior Championships at the National Watersport’s Centre in Nottingham this July. There were a huge number of entries and for many of the squad this was their first experience of National Championship racing. All of our crews rowed really impressively and made the junior squad proud!
Day 1 Izzy and Caitlin competed in the WJ18 2x and Ollie raced J16 2x with his doubles partner from Hexham. Izzy and Caitlin came 21 out of 38 in the Time Trial making it through to a very competitive D final. This was Izzy’s last Brit Champs race with the Junior squad – we will all miss you! Ollie & Ethan stormed their time trial coming 3rd out of 40, then 2nd in their semi final, and finishing 5th in a rollercoaster of an A final. 3 x 2000m races in 8 hours is no mean feat!
The juniors were back in force on Day 4.
First up were Etienne and George B in the J14 1x in an early morning time trial. George B stormed through the field to come 1st and go through to the semi final, whist Etienne in his first single race on a national stage came 20th out of 35 and reached the highly competitive D Final. George B dominated his Semi final to break the course record. Etienne rowed a very impressive D final coming in a strong 3rd in a very competitive race.
Next up were John and Oscar in the J14 2x making it through to the E final where some crazy weather conditions threw in some unexpected challenges. In spite of the weather the boys put in a strong performance despite getting soaked to the skin at the start!
Lisa and Isabelle then raced the WJ14 2x time trial against many of the same crews they’d raced in JIRR earlier in the year. They placed an impressive 2nd out of 38 and went on to win their Semi Final.
There was an exciting time trial for George in J15 1x coming a fantastic 20 out of 62 competitors to claim a place in a highly competitive D final. An impressive display of rowing saw George coming a strong 3rd.
Seb and Noah raced a stonking time trial placing 25 out of 53 making it to a nail biting E final where they were pipped into second place on the line.
Sienna rowed a strong time trial in the J15 1x in an extremely competitive field, putting in an impressive row but missing the cut off for the finals this time.
Racing was paused for 2 hours due to thunder and lightening so there was a long wait for the A finals. Eventually the weather cleared, the sun came out and there was not a breath of wind as the final set of racing for the day began.
George B completely nailed it. Dominating the J14 1x final from the start he managed to smash the Course record for the 2nd time in a day and winning Gold in style (and even got interviewed on the telly!) 🥇 🥇 🥇
With possibly the weight of great expectations on their shoulders after JIRR, Lisa and Isabelle then raced the WJ14 2x final. It was nail biting with the girls in 2nd at the 500m mark. Isabelle put in the calls and by 750m they had started to pull ahead, winning gold by half a boat length and claiming a new Course Record too! No mean feat ladies – congratulations!! 🥇 🥇 🥇
A huge thank you to all the coaches, parents and boat towers that made it possible for our juniors to have such a great experience. They couldn’t do it without you!
From Don Fraser, Head Coach; ‘A brilliant way to round off our official regatta season but also a great season. To everyone who attended Brit Champs your performances were a credit to all your hard work, determination, and the values we hold as a squad. Well done!’