“Absolutely fantastic” – Day 1 of new-format British Rowing Junior and Senior Club Championships

16 scullers and crews became British Champions after over 200 races in ideal conditions in Nottingham

The sun shone uncharacteristically warmly and a light breeze barely ruffled the surface of the rowing lake as the four-day Championships got under way today at Holme Pierrepont Country Park.

One of the many changes made to the racing programme for this new-format of combined British Rowing Junior and Senior Club Championships is that each event is completed within a day. This greatly eased travel and accommodation logistics, particularly for juniors. But it also meant that competitors and spectators were able to applaud the scullers and crews who had earned the prestigious title of British Champion on the very first day of the Championships. Gold medals were awarded to 10 Junior and six Senior – two Championship and four Club – British Champions today.

Senior Championship events

The first medals of the day were awarded in the Open Championship Lightweight single sculls, where Ben Parsonage (Clydesdale ARC) dominated the final, winning by over 10 seconds from silver medallist Sylvain Boyer (Kingston RC), with Jack Norton (Bath University BC) taking bronze.

Lara Brittain (NCRA), the new British Champion in the Women’s Championships Lightweight single sculls, also stamped her authority on the final, finishing over six seconds ahead of Leonie Kennedy (University of Surrey). Heidi Taylor of Derby RC moved up from fourth to third place before half way to claim bronze.

Senior Club events

Two local clubs claimed the gold medals in the Club Coxless fours events; Derby RC in the Open event and Nottingham RC in the Women’s. The Nottingham crew said, “We are delighted to finish off the season with a win at Senior Champs. It’s been a great day with amazing weather and a great atmosphere at the event. We are very happy to be taking home the dryrobes®.”

Next up, spectators at the course, as well as those following the racing via the drone footage on British Rowing Champs Live, were treated to a superb set of close single sculls races in the B and A finals.

Max Raymond-Barker (Lea RC) led from start to finish in the Open Club Single sculls, crossing the line with a lead of over nine seconds. James Coombes (Hereford RC) took silver and Alex Knighton (NCRA) produced an epic row to complete the medallists in this popular event, which kicked off the day with a time trial involving 31 scullers.

Afterwards, Max said, “It was a rough race – I expected to win after my time trial but I wasn’t sure – I put the pressure on myself but it turned out all good. This is my first gold medal and I’m hoping to trial for GB next year.”

In the Women’s Club Single sculls, which also started the day with a large field – of 29 – the final over turned the results from the opening time trial. Gold medallist Aoife Keane (London RC), who had finished third in the time trial, also led throughout the final. Behind her, though, there were some courageous pushes, which saw Eleanor Dash (Hartpury University and College) move up from third to second in the second 500m. Even more impressively, Jen Titterington (Nottingham RC) sculled through from fifth position at 500m gone, to fourth at the next two markers, before sprinting to take bronze in the last quarter of the race.

“When you get a medal you just forget the pain”

Aoife, who won Aspirational Single Sculls at Henley Women’s Regatta in 2023, said, “I feel better now than I did after my time trial – that was a brutal morning wake up! But when you get a medal you just forget the pain, and that’s why you do it again. Next up I’m going to see if I can win Scullers Head – a bit ambitious but I’ll try!”

Junior events

The programme for the Junior events mostly has the Open and Women’s events for each category on different days. Today’s junior events were just for J16s and J18s, racing over the full 2,000m course.

Hinksey Sculling School’s Herbie Austin-Baker produced an enormously accomplished race to win Open J18 Single sculls by 1.85 seconds from the fast-finishing J16 Ezra Ferguson (George Watson’s College). Ferguson surged through from fifth place at 500m to take the silver medal, in turn passing Frederyk Giemza-Pipe (Shanklin Sandown RC), who had himself picked up his pace to reach the podium positions, moving from fourth at half way to second at 1,500m gone. With 61 scullers having started the event in this morning’s time trial, these were particularly hard-won medals, and great to see them going to clubs from such a geographical spread.

“There were some amazing pushes from the people on either side of me”

Herbie, who was the GB sculler at the Coupe de la Jeunesse in 2023, said, “After I managed to get away quite early but there were some amazing pushes from the people on either side of me. I was scared in the last 1K, I had to really go for it!”

The strength of Lea RC’s junior programme was clear for all to see as they won the Open J18 Quadruple sculls – calling their win “redemption” after a caught crab and snapped blade at Henley Royal Regatta held them back from victory earlier this month. They finished ahead of Hartpury University and College, with RGS High Wycombe third, before taking gold and bronze in the Women’s J18 Double sculls, with Trentham RC splitting them for silver. A third Lea crew finished fifth. Jessica Kerbiriou, one of the winning crew, said, “It was a nice end to the season, having a half Lea A Final. The support from our club has been amazing!”

Shanklin Sandown RC took gold in the Open J16 Double sculls with Exeter RC overtaking Hinksey Sculling School in the last 500m to secure the silver medal. Hinksey remained well clear of the second half of the field to claim bronze.

In the Women’s J16 Single sculls the first three maintained their order throughout the race, which was won by Ella McDougall (Barn Elms BC) with Maisie Brittles (Warrington RC) second and Gracie Janes (A B Severn BC) third.

Similarly, Wallingford RC lead the entire final of the Women’s J16 Quadruple sculls with Hexham RC following them. Hartpury University and College sculled through from fifth place in the final 500m to snatch bronze by less than half a second.

Moving on to the sweep events, Sir William Perkins’s School took gold in the Women’s J18 Coxless pairs, ahead of Walton RC and Wallingford RC. Hinksey Sculling School won Open J18 Coxless fours with Aberdeen Schools RA taking silver and The Windsor Boys’ School bronze.

Extending the geographical spread even further, Gibraltar-based Calpe RC had a clear win in the Women’s J16 Coxless pairs, ahead of Glasgow Academy and Marlow RC. The medals in Open J16 Coxed fours, though, went to near neighbours as Reading Bluecoat School took gold, The Windsor Boys’ School silver, and Claires Court School bronze.

Victor Ludorum standings after Day 1

Position	Junior	Senior	Overall
1	Wallingford RC	Derby RC	Lea RC
2	Lea RC	Nottingham RC	Wallingford RC
3	Hinksey Sculling School	Clydesdale RC	Hinksey Sculling School

Alastair Marks, CEO of British Rowing, who presented the medals, said “It’s been an absolutely fantastic event today. It’s so great to see the Championships come to life after a huge amount of planning and, of course, the volunteers, the competitors, the coaches – everybody that makes this happen – have certainly made the first day a brilliant day. We’re really looking forward to the rest of the competition.”

With racing starting at 8am and not finishing until after 7.15pm, it’s certainly been a long day for the many, wonderful vounteers here at the Championships. Their cheerfulness – especially as the sun beat down – has been extraordinary, and we’re so grateful to them all. Thank you!

Visit the BRJSCC hub page for full results plus details of the programme for the rest of the Championships and much more:

BRJSCC hub

Watch back the Day 1 coverage on Champs Live