Loughborough Boat Club

The Inaugural East Midlands Junior Head race over 2,500 metres on the River Trent at Newark saw some strong performances from Loughborough Boat Club juniors. With competitors from as far afield as Doncaster and Peterborough the Club’s squad faced some tough competition as they tried to make their mark in the region. The event was designed as both an opportunity for juniors to get valuable race experience and as a means to select the East Midlands team for the Inter-Regional Junior Regatta at Home Pierrepont later this month – and Isobel Jones, Rosy Dixon and Chris Morris put in such good performances on the day that they gained selection for this increasingly important event in the rowing calendar.

Isobel Jones gained an impressive victory in the Women’s J15 Single Sculls when she completed the course in 9mins 59secs, more than one minute in front of her nearest rival. Isobel then teamed up with Rosy Dixon in the Women’s W15 Double Sculls where they not only won their own category, in a time of 9mins 13secs, but beat all the Women’s J16 crews by 13 secs – an excellent start to their second season of competition. Chris Morris also did enough to impress the selection committee when he put in a strong performance in J15 Single Sculls with a time of 9mins 52secs.

The event also provided a first racing opportunity for some of the Club members. Sam Parsons had his first race in a J14 Double Scull with Thomas Lange who is still in his first season of racing. Despite a few early steering problems they came back strongly in the latter part of the course and showed definite promise for the future. Laurence Duck also made his racing debut with Chris Morris, racing at J18 Double Sculls.

Despite still being in the J15 age group both Isobel and Chris have also been invited to attend the National J16 Training Camp which runs at Holme Pierrepont for five days over Easter. This will be an excellent opportunity for them to work and train with other talented juniors from around the UK and benefit from experienced coaching at National level.

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