British Rowing Junior and Senior Club Championships all set for four days of exciting racing

July 15, 2024

The new format has proved extremely popular, with 1,467 crews from over 160 clubs now getting ready to race across 60 events in Nottingham from 19-22 July

Compared with the previous Junior-only event, the extension to four days has enabled far more junior crews – a huge 1,229 entries – to race than ever before. Meanwhile the new Club, Beginner and Adaptive categories for Seniors, in addition to Championship events, have attracted 247 entries (including 14 Adaptive scullers) in this first year of the new format, and the first Senior Championships since 2018.

The most-entered junior events are the Women’s J15 double sculls (94 crews) and single sculls (71), followed by the Open J15 double sculls (68) and J18 single sculls (67). Singles are popular amongst the Seniors too: the biggest event is the Open Club singles with 35 entries, and there are 30 scullers in the Women’s Club singles.

Across all of the events there will be 360 races at the Championships, including 43 time trials, fulfilling the Championships’ vision of a vibrant event that celebrates clubs across the country.

Victor Ludorum prospects

Separate Senior and School/Junior Victor Ludorum plaques will be awarded to the clubs accruing the most points in those across all events in those categories.

Strong contenders for the Junior title are likely to include Wallingford RC, which is bringing 52 Junior crews; Brentford BC, with 43; Kingston RC with 34, The Windsor Boys’ School with 31; and Aberdeen School Rowing Association and Hinksey Sculling School both with 29.

With smaller entries in the Senior events, the competition for the Senior Victor Ludorum will be closely fought. Nottingham RC has 13 crews, Bath University and Nottinghamshire County Rowing Association 10 apiece, and Derby and Thames – who dominated the Club events at Henley Royal Regatta – each have eight.

In addition, there will be a £1,000 cash prize for the most successful club overall across the entire Championships!

Lots to look forward to off the water too

Enhancing the British Rowing community’s national racing experience off the water as well as on it has been an important focus for the new Championships. With that in mind we’re thrilled that our partners dryrobe® will be giving all gold medal winners a dryrobe® Advance or an Organic Towel dryrobe®! To support the increasing focus on sustainability across rowing, we’re also excited to announce that all clubs will receive free eco-friendly cleaning products from our new partner Delphis Eco.

Coaches have told us that competitions are a stressful time for them, so members of our Learning, Education and Development Team will be manning a Coaches Corner on the Friday and Saturday. All coaches are encouraged to drop in at the British Rowing gazebo in the Event Village, whether you need some time out, want to enquire about some personal development, are keen to connect with other coaches, or want to provide us with some feedback or find out what opportunities are coming up for coaches next year.

Mike Martin, Chair of the Organising Committee, said, “We’re incredibly excited that the rowing community has responded to this new format of combined Championships with such enthusiasm. Our Junior Championships has always seen the highest quality of racing, and this will be more so than ever with such bumper entries. The newly-introduced Senior programme was shaped by feedback from across the rowing community and offers all levels of competition. A wide spread of clubs and competitors are now ready to take to the water in Nottingham, battling for the title of National Champion for the first time since 2018. We’re gearing up for four days of exciting, high quality rowing at Holme Pierrepont Country Park and we look forward to seeing club members across the country turn up in full force, be that as competitors, coaches, spectators or volunteers.”