Thanks to Steve Bull fo sharing this report, written by Kevin Bennett from the Newport Rowing Club (NRC). Ed
The sport of rowing is in good hands on the Island, as demonstrated by the talents of youngsters from all three local clubs when they met at Newport RC to compete at the annual Isle of Wight Rowing Forum spring junior regatta last Sunday.
Excellent weather conditions were matched by perfectly flat waters on the Medina, ideal for some of the less experienced juniors to take their first steps in competitive sculling.
Informal format
The format of the event is designed to be very informal and crew members for boats are drawn at random, encouraging interaction between the Newport, Ryde and Shanklin juniors.
This format further promotes adaptability, which is an asset in the sport. It also means that juniors who are newer and less experienced in rowing benefit from being in boats with more seasoned athletes.
Events were held for single sculls and quadruple coxed sculls over a 500 metre course, with crews boating from the Newport RC riverbank.
After the initial heat stages in the single sculls event, it was Steven Soul and Jacob Redstone from Ryde RC and Ollie Bennett from Newport who took their places on the start line.
Steven got away to a fantastic start and in to a lead that he held all the way to the finish, leaving Jacob and Ollie to compete for the silver and bronze. It proved to be a close race, with Ollie just fading towards the end, leaving Jacob as runner-up.
Hard fought heats
Even closer racing and hard fought heats proved to be the order of the day in the mixed quadruple sculls event, and the three crews who progressed to the final represented a good cross-section of juniors from all three clubs.
A fine example of this was the eventual winning crew, which consisted of Newport’s Ollie Bennett, Matthew Jeacock and Steven Soul from Ryde and Henry Mudge and club mate Jaimey Wain as coxswain from Shanklin.
A fantastic turn out of juniors, supported by family and friends, as well as their coaches, made for a very successful event and plans are already being made for next year’s junior regatta.
All three Island rowing clubs promote junior participation, and anyone interested in trying the sport shouldn’t hesitate to contact either Newport, Ryde or Shanklin.
