April 28, 2010 News British Rowing NewsBritish Rowing EventsRowing CommunityGB Rowing TeamCompetitions and ClubsIndoor RowingPartners#YourStoriesArchive West Success at Junior Inter-Regional Regatta and GB Trials Rowing Community A team representing the West Region, made up of juniors from clubs from across Devon and Cornwall, recently attended the national Junior Inter-Regional Regatta (JIRR), which took place in Nottingham on April 25th 2010. The event saw the West team compete against juniors from British Rowing’s eleven other regions. This year saw the West come away with some of its best ever results, and the highest overall placing the region has ever achieved. Being the smallest of the region’s taking part, reaching an ‘A’ final (for crews ranked in the top six from the first round heats) is considered a very good result. A medal is an outstanding achievement, and something a West crew has only achieved once before.ADVERT Stand out result of the day therefore came in the J15 2x event, where Rowe and Kerswell-Jensen of Dart Totnes outlined their potential by winning Gold with a dominant performance in the A final. Kerswell-Jensen also came close to a medal in the J15 1x, placing 4th in the ‘A’ final with less than a second separating 2nd to 4th. It was a good day all round for Dart Totnes with a further three of their crews (J14 4x+, WJ14 4x+ and WJ16 4x) reaching ‘A’ finals. The region’s other standout performer was Alice Jackson of Kingsley School, who qualified for the A final of the WJ16 1x, finishing a creditable 5th. The regional also had some success in ‘B’ finals, with the Plymouth J16 4x and the Exeter WJ15 4x+ winning the ‘B’ finals of those events, finishing 7th overall, and scoring valuable points for the region. Overall the region finished 9th, a very creditable result for what is a comparatively small region in terms of numbers of clubs and juniors. Also representing the region well were Marcus Bowyer of Exeter RC and Jacob Dawson of Plymouth ARC, both of whom took part in the GB Junior Small Boats Trial at Dorney Lake, which also took place on April 25th. Dawson, who is in only his second year of sculling, was attending the trial to gain experience of the GB Junior Trials system. He placed a close second in the E final, 26th overall. Bowyer, who is hoping to gain selection for the GB Junior team this summer, put in a solid performance with a 2nd place in the B Final, 8th overall. Based on that result he is hopeful of being invited to the final set of trials in July, where the final selections will be made for this year’s GB Junior teams. Report from Tom Pattichis Coaching and Development Team Leader – West Region ADVERT