High-Quality Racing at the Junior Inter Regional Regatta

The Junior Inter Regional Regatta on Saturday brought together the strongest young rowers from across the country for a full day of high‑quality racing.

Designed to showcase regional talent and provide athletes with a true championship‑style experience, the regatta offered an invaluable platform for juniors to test themselves against the best in their age group. The Championship sees 16 regions represented with crews from England, Scotland and Wales taking part. 

The Boat Club qualified four boats to represent the region at the regatta with the 4th & 5th Form pupils lining up in the J16 VIII, WJ16 VIII, J16 Coxed Four and J15 Coxed Four. The crews took part in a one-thousand-meter time trial with crews then moving into seeded finals. 

The time trials produced solid performances across the board, with the Girls’ Eight earning a place in the A Final and the boys’ boats moving into the B Finals. Each crew felt they had more to give, and they set out to prove it. The J16 Coxed Four delivered a blistering start in their final, taking an early lead and holding it impressively to secure a commanding win. The Girls’ Eight, ranked sixth going into the A Final, refused to be defined by their seeding. A superb start put them straight into medal contention, and they maintained their composure down the full 1500m course, finishing a very close fourth, an excellent step on from their heat. 

The J16 boys’ second boat came 11th in the time trial and approached their final with determination. They produced a sharp start, settled into a strong rhythm, and earned praise from the race commentary for their clean blade work. Their efforts were rewarded with third place in the B Final, showing clear progression from the morning. 

For the J15 boys’ Four, this was their first experience of multi‑lane racing. Entering the final as the slowest crew on paper, they handled the occasion with maturity and delivered a committed performance, battling closely with Wessex to finish sixth. 

All four crews demonstrated meaningful progress throughout the event, momentum they will look to carry into Shrewsbury Regatta on 9–10 May, before turning their attention to the National Schools’ Regatta later in the month. 

Mr Athol Hundermark, i/c Rowing