King’s Ely Boat Club had a superb day at the Junior Sculling Regatta at Dorney Lake on May 6th, bringing home Gold and Silver medals!
Caitlin Morton won Gold in the WJ15 1x race.
Hugh Torlesse, Jasper Williams, Oliver Davey, Jack Skelhorn, Alexander Hunt, Qiba Westfield-Airey, George Hornbuckle, Dominic Thompson and Toby Calvo won Silver in the J14 8x+ race.
Mr Craig Ward, our Head of Rowing, said: “We have not medalled at the Junior Sculling Regatta before, so to win Gold and Silver is absolutely fantastic!
“After the time trials in the morning, we had three King’s Ely crews progress into their respective A Finals (top six crews). Mollie Chamberlain, racing in the Girls’ 1x category, recovered well after a slow start and recorded fifth place overall. The J14 Boys’ Octo produced a sublime row, coming through in the second 1,000-metres to win Silver. The result of the day was produced by Caitlin Morton in the WJ15 1x. Moving away from the competition in the time trial and then the A Final, Caitlin stormed to victory to win the Gold medal!
“The Senior Boys started the day in the J18 Quad category, beating local rivals Bedford Modern and finishing close to the main group. The WJ18 Girls’ Quad, in a new combination, raced brilliantly to record a 14th place finish, narrowly missing the B Final. The J15 Boys’ and Girls’ Quads raced well in new combinations, and learnt a lot of valuable lessons to take into regatta season. The J14 Boys’ Quad also raced for the first time and beat several crews to produce a pleasing row.
“The Junior Sculling Regatta is a high standard national event, seen as a pre-cursor to the National Schools’ Regatta, which is in three weeks’ time. Congratulations to all our students who competed yesterday and thank you to the coaches for their dedication in supporting the rowers to continually improve and progress.”
This success comes just days after King’s Ely rowers won medals at the Junior Inter-Regional Regatta. All six rowers who represented the Eastern region in the British Rowing event at the National Water Sports Centre in Nottinghamshire came home with medals.
Caitlin Morton won Bronze in the WJ15 1x category. Thomas Peters, Oliver Biggs, Theo Logan, Seb Thompson and Thomas Strudwick won Silver medals in the J15 4+ race.
Congratulations everyone – what a start to the regatta season!