Home International Regatta
NCRA had 9 athletes selected to represent England at the Home International Regatta at Strathclyde Park on the 27th July.
Ash was first up, racing in a composite with Jack from Tideway Scullers School in the M Lwt 2-. They put in a solid performance to come in third, after having only a couple of weeks training together and restricting their diet to make the crucial weigh in. This was a tough race, as they were up against strong Scottish and Irish established club crews.
Ash also helped Jess and Megan experience rowing in the pair in the pre-race training sessions, resulting in them practicing starts and race pace pieces by the end of their second outing, which contributed to their strong race in the 4-.
Mia & Liv were next to race in the JW 2-. Dominating the race from start to finish in a repeat of their performance at the Junior British Championships a week earlier, the girls finished first securing the vital 4 points for the England Team.
Next up were Meg, Jas, Jess and Esther in the JW 4-. Having raced the Scottish 4- the week before at the Junior British Championships, the girls knew they had to go out hard and take the race to them. In what was one of the highlight races of the day, our 4- and the Scottish 4- led the rest of the field at the 500m marker with our girls moving to a slender lead at half-way.
With nothing to split the two crews, the Scottish 4- edged out to marginal lead with 500m to go. Fighting all the way our girls tried to claw back the Scottish 4- with 250m to go, but the Scots held their nerve to the finish line. A very respectable second place for our girls.
Our lightweight senior women, racing Lwt 2x finished third in what is always a hotly contested and intense senior category, where older athletes often capitalise on repeated experience in how to perform well while making weight.
Megan and Aerin, rookies in lightweight crew rowing and still as U23, found themselves on a steep learning curve. They considered the race to have been their best performance this year, keeping a good length lead ahead of Ireland, so came away from Strathclyde, pleased with this result and fired up to take it further next year.
In the final race of the day for our junior women; Mia, Liv, Jas & Esther teamed with up the JW4+ to race the JW 8+.
With only 2 sessions in the JW8+ prior to the race, the girls knew they had to execute the perfect race to come away with the win. In impressive style the girls dominated from start to finish, breaking to clear water at half-way and winning the race by over 2 lengths.
A final 4 points in the bag for the England Junior Women’s team meant they were once again bringing the trophy home.
The Home International Regatta brought an amazing 2018-19 season to a close for NCRA
And what a season it has been. 16 wins at domestic regattas, 5 National Medals and 2 win at the Home International Regatta. Our athletes will now take a well-deserved break with training starting again in the second half of August.
2018-2019 Race Wins/Medals;
- British Rowing Senior Champs – WU23 4x-
- Nottingham Autumn Head – J18 1x, JW18 1x, JW17 1x
- Hampton Head – JW18 2x
- Quintin Head – W Inter 8+
- Head of the Trent – W.Band 2 8+
- Lincoln Head – J18 1x
- Northwich Head – J13 1x
- Abingdon Head – J13 1x
- Leicester Regatta – Op 1x, W 2x, W 4-, J13 1x
- Wallingford Regatta – JW18 2x
- Worcester Spring Regatta – J13 1x
- National Schools Regatta – ChG 2x – Silver, ChG 2- Silver
- British Rowing Junior Championships – JW2x – Bronze, JW 4- Silver, JW 2- Gold
- Home International Regatta – JW 2-, JW 8+ (4 NCRA Athletes in the crew).
