Success at the Wessex Junior Regatta
Wessex Junior Regatta
Although a relatively small event by some standards this regional regatta held annually at Bryanston is nonetheless a welcome addition to the calendar. It always has an extremely friendly atmosphere, giving all of our junior ‘B’ crews a good chance to race several times in one day and hopefully come away with prizes. Looking at the results, this was an opportunity almost all of our crews grasped with both hands, winning either tankards for 1st place or medals for 2nd or 3rd, as we came away with an extremely impressive haul. Going through the year groups and starting with the shell girls, our sculler in the ‘A’ category, Tikvah Sugden, did well to finish 4th but sadly just outside the medals, while in the ‘B’ category Misha Pinnington managed a fine win before later medalling with Aurelia Hibbert in the double as they finished 3rd. The quad also did extremely well, finishing 1st to round off the day for this year group.
Our shell boys meanwhile also won several categories, the best result coming from the ‘B’ quads event where the ‘B’ crew prevailed just ahead of the ‘A’ crew and ensured we would come home with both tankards and medals. Freddie Lickiss, having only just started this term, was given the hard task of racing in the single sculling ‘A’ event but proved his talent as he managed to finish in 3rd place while in the ‘B’ event Alastair Chamorro also came 3rd despite some rather suspect steering as he beat Tom Symmonds into 4th place. Our J14 doubles sadly did not make it through the first round, also suffering from some dodgy steering, something which would later plague our J15 doubles.
Moving on to the J15 events, our girls quad showed their competitive streak (especially Lizzie Bishop sitting in the stroke seat) as they won their event after a storming series of rows. The boys also did extremely well, two crews racing twice each in both fours and quads, winning three separate events: the J16 fours, the J15 fours and the J15 quads, the ‘B’ crew also coming 2nd in the J15 fours event. Although we sadly did not do quite enough to win the Victor Ludorum, this performance was extremely promising given that none of our ‘A’ crew athletes were present and we hope this will inspire all of our ‘B’ crews to carry on and try their best next year. Our thanks must go to all those parents who came and supported, also providing a wonderful barbecue for all of our boys and girls.
