JU16 Quad Scullers Strike Gold for East Midlands

Sunday 25th April 2010 saw the  National Junior Interregional Rowing Regatta held at the National Water Sports Centre, Holme Pierrepont. Martin Kay of Nottingham Rowing Club reports…

In the JU16 Quadruple Sculls category Nottingham Rowing Club’s crew of Tom Selby, Dominic Harrison, George Greenfield and Ed Fisher, representing East Midlands, won their mid morning heat by a narrow margin of less than a second against the champions of the Thames Upper Region.

This set up a thrilling final, with the six best regional crews battling against each other for the J16 quad gold medal. The Nottingham boys made a strong start and after 500m had moved to half a length lead from the Welsh regional representatives with Thames Upper region a close third. In the next 500m the Nottingham crew pushed hard extending their lead to over a length, with Thames Upper and Wales neck and neck for second place. In the final 500m Nottingham increased their stroke rate to 38 per minute which proved too much for the competition. The early pace took its toll on the Welsh representatives which allowed North West Region to take bronze, Thames Upper Region to take silver and the Nottingham crew a well deserved gold medal, winning by a length and a half.

Three very valuable silver medals from Nottingham boosted the EM Team score to bring us up to 4th place nationally. Callum Jones In JU15 Single Sculls, with Dominic Parnell and Connor Gamble in J14 Double Sculls flew the flag for the boys, while in the JU16 Quad Sculls, Lucy Crooks, Holly Oughton, Sarah Padbury and Mary Wilson brought in another strong performance, again showing the all round strength in the Club’s youngsters’ squad at this early stage in the racing season.