London Youth Rowing juniors were in action at the National Championships on the weekend. Most rowers progressed to the semi-finals and Liam Downes in the J16 single and the LYR Junior Women’s Quad both qualified comfortably through to their respective finals.
Liam, who started rowing just over a year ago showed what, with enough dedication, can be achieved in a short space of time in the sport. He has rarely missed a training session in that time, and since finishing his exams, has upped his workload in preparation for this event. He was third fastest in his semi and managed the same result in the final to take a comfortable bronze medal. He no doubt has a bright future ahead of him.
The junior women’s quad had a point to prove after catching a crab at Women’s Henley and consequently bowing out in the first round. Over the course of the summer they had won at the Met, taken silver at Wallingford and placed behind only the Dutch and French national squads at Ghent. Women’s Henley was a big disappointment for the girls and they put that right here with a powerful start in the final after which they proceeded to scull away from the rest of the field with ease. They were never challenged and the gold medal was just reward for the way they have trained and raced all season.
Congratulations go to Lizzie Panton (Lea), Jordan Cole-Hussain (Barn Elms), Catherine O’Riordan (Thames) and Lottie Hudson (Lea) in the WJ4x and Liam (Lea) in his J161x. Balancing the challenge of huge volumes of training with the pressure of GSCE and ‘A’ Level exams is no mean feat and they deserve every plaudit that comes their way.