This last weekend marked the trials for the Junior Inter Regional Regatta (JIRR) held in Nottingham. Competitors race over a 1400m course at Totnes. All twelve British Rowing regions send a team of J14, J15 and J16s to compete against each other.
For many of our Juniors, this was the first head race (or even race) they had ever entered. Despite this, the effort and enthusiasm from all our junior athletes was commendable and some very good sculling was seen. Unfortunately there was no WJ16 quad category in the event, so our girls tried their hand at sweep rowing instead, so they may enter the J16 coxed four event. The girls who were thrown into a sweep oar boat a couple of weeks ago (and Ellie for the first time on the day) rowed really well and they did not look like a novice crew. Sue the Junior Coordinator was, “both surprised and impressed!” As no one else entered a four and the girls had such a good attitude Tina, the team leader, is happy for them to represent the West region at the JIRR in Nottingham. Our other representative will be Poppy who felt she’d had a really bad row. Despite her concerns regarding her performance, she still won her event WJ16 1x and therefore gets the singles slot in the team. Well done Poppy! Sue went on to say, “I was thrilled to be able to take a team with quads, a four, double and singles to the trials. That’s the most ERC has managed since David and I became involved with the Club. We have a sound base to our squad now and need to build on this. Looking good for our 150th anniversary year. Well done everyone!”
Many thanks go to: Alice and Innana for organising our juniors on the day. Jerry and David for boat tying duties. David Higgs who towed the trailer for us. Various parents who helped with the lifting, loading and encouraging cheers etc.
Finally, I must end by saying that we have a wonderful group of juniors whose team spirit never ceases to amaze me. It is a delight to see such a nice young group of young athletes training and working hard together, very well done to you all.
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