10 crews from ERBC travelled to Eton Dorney over the weekend to compete at National Schools Regatta.
On Friday, 7 crews started their campaign with time trials and 6 out of the 7 qualified for finals which was unprecedented.
The highlight of the day was the GJ14 8X+ crew of Grace Collins, Darcy Balfour, Caitlin Kelly, Abbie McCarthy-Magwood, Emily Black, Tori Davis, Natalie Turner, Isabella Wright and cox Abbey Wilson who qualified fastest into the A Final.
In that final they produced a superb performance to finish strongly to overtake their rivals in a most exciting finish to take the win in a time of 3.39.07 over the girls from Surbiton High School and Henley RC to lift the Windrush Trophy to the delight of everyone who had gathered to cheer them on from the bank.
The BJ15 8+ Ryan Topping, Harry Coalter, Charlie Lynn, Lorcan Sreenivasan, Jessica Kingston (cox) Andrew Cuthbertson, Luke Bailey, Austin Cassidy, Evan Donaghy qualified 7th fastest from their time trial, just missing out on an A final place by 0.36 seconds. They went on to take the win in the B final over the boys from Kings College School BC by 6 seconds, 03.07.61, a time which was faster than 4 of the crews who had competed in the A final. 3rd fastest time in the UK is an amazing achievement for the boys and they should be very proud of it.
The GJ15 8+ Zara Welsh, Rhea Cartin McCloskey, Erin Trimble, Mya Morris, Rachel Cathcart (cox) Naomi Robinson, Annie Fowler, Hannah Armstrong, Errie Powell qualified for the A final after finishing 6th in the time trial – the girls completed the 1km course in 6th place in a time of 3.48.43.
The BJ14 4X+ of Cameron Bell, Jacob Woods, Joshua Ihnat, Cillian Donaghy and cox Oliver McNeary also qualified for the A final after a great time trial where they finished in 6th place. The GJ14 4X+ crew of Amy Williamson, Aoibhin Campbell, Abbey Johnston, Brooke Davis and cox Milena Remedios competed in a huge field of 53 crews in the time trial and were delighted to qualify for the D final where they finished 6th in a time of 5.03.60. Amy and Aoibhin are only Year 9 students and performed really well on this UK stage. This experience will be very beneficial for all the young rowers as they continue to train for the Irish Rowing Championships in July.
The BJ15 4+ crew of Christian Timoney, Eoghan Campbell, Jake Sembhi, Ethan Downey and cox Jamie Dunlop finished their B final in 2nd place which was a great achievement for them.
The GJ15 4X+ were disadvantaged by another crew during their time trial leaving the crew of Sienna Howe, Amy Lipscomb, Errie Powell, Hannah Armstrong and Milena Remedios disappointed not to qualify for the finals in the afternoon.
Saturday saw the BJ16 4+ crew of Joe Murphy, Hugo McChesney, Owen Kelly, George Kernaghan qualify for the A final with the 4th fastest time in their time trial. In the final they completed the 2km course in a time of 7.28.47 in 6th place.
The Ch 4+ crew qualified fastest from the time trial in a great time of 6.35.97 to race in the A/B Semi final where they again finished fastest. The A final saw the crew of Marcus Davis Kunze, Nathan Kelly, Oran Harty, Calum Timoney and cox Katelyn Fee had a poor start leaving them 2 lengths down leaving them with a lot of work to do. At the finish line it was the crews from Aberdeen Schools Rowing Association and Hampton School BC who took the first and second places, the ERBC taking bronze.
Acorn Cassidy started training in the single scull 3 weeks ago to compete at National Schools and had a fantastic trial and A/B Semi final to qualify for the A final. This was an incredible achievement for someone in their first ever sculling race.
Many thanks to the coaches and parents who travelled to Dorney with the rowers, it is very much appreciated. Mr Holland, Head of Rowing was absolutely delighted with the performances of all the crews and to win the Windrush Trophy and take bronze in the Boys Championship Four at this high level of competition in UK has been the highlight of the season so far.
Training for the Irish Rowing Championships will now step up a gear to have the crews at their fitness peak in July.
