Enniskillen Royal Boat Club had their most successful visit to the National Schools’ Regatta at the weekend, winning three golds and a silver.
The event, held at the 2012 Olympic venue Dorney Lake outside London is the largest schools’ regatta in Europe with over 5000 rowers participating over three days.
On day one, the two Junior J14 octo crews competed with both qualifying for finals. The girls (Flavia Remedios, Freya McNeary, Leah Topping, Clodagh Donaghy, Penny Huddlestone, Maeve Rolston-McAuliffe, Aimee Turner, Eva Fowler and cox Milena Remedios) came fourth in the B Final.
The boys (Harry Welsh, Evan Clarke, Edward Dawa, James McAleer, Oliver Krawczyk, Oliver Jennings, Joel Crean, Caelan Moore and cox Rachel Cathcart) came third in the D Final. Excellent results for young crews, some of whom only started rowing in September.
Day two delivered some impressive results starting with the Girls’ J15 coxed four (Tori Davis, Brooke Davis, Abbie McCarthy-Magwood, Emily Black and cox Rachel Cathcart) claiming the Katrina Jacks Trophy with a clear six-second margin over second-placed Godolphin & Latymer School Boat Club.
Shortly afterward, the Boys’ J16 coxed four (Luke Bailey, Ryan Topping, Austin Cassidy, Harry Coalter and cox Katelyn Fee) backed up their fastest time trial result with a win in the in A Final to take the Arundel Cup.
Luke Bailey, Ryan Topping, Austin Cassidy, Harry Coalter and cox Katleyn Fee, Arundel Cup winners
They were in second position for much of the race but put in a strong finish to overcome Windsor Boys School.
There was also a silver medal for the J16 Girls’ coxed four of Hannah Armstrong, Rhea Cartin McCloskey, Naomi Robinson, Zara Welsh and cox Jessica Thompson this time losing out to rivals to Godolphin & Latymer.
Other notable results were a B Final win for the J15 coxed four (Ollie Powell, Joshua Ihnat, Matthew Montgomery, Cillian Donaghy and cox Jacob Woods), C Final wins for J15 coxed four (Aoibhin Campbell, Amy Williamson, Grace Collins, Darcy Balfour and cox Milena Remedios) and J16 coxed four (Erin Trimble, Zara Lindsay, Sienna Howe, Mya Morris and cox Milena Remedios).
The Boys’ J16 8 (Eoghan Campbell, Jake Sembhi, Andrew Cuthbertson, Harley Sheppard, Charlie Lynn, Lorcan Sreenivasan, Evan Donaghy, Christian Timoney and cox Errie Powell) had a strong time trial qualifying for the B Final and achieving 5th in a strong field, effectively making them 11th in the country.
In the final race of the day, the senior four (Hugo McChesney, William Bogle, George Kernaghan, Oliver Khew and Abbey Wilson) just missed out on a bronze medal in the Championship Open coxed four class.
On day three, in the J16 double class, Ben Cameron and Jamie Dunlop qualified into the D Final and came second with a strong finish.
Club Captain Acorn Cassidy and Isabella Wright rowing in a pair in the championship class came first in their time trial with an eight second margin, and then rounded off the weekend by winning their final by more than two boat lengths to claim the coveted Leander Cup.
This is only the third time a club from the island of Ireland has won a championship trophy since 1948.
Acorn Cassidy and Isabella Wright won the Leander Cup
Head coach Derek Holland was delighted with the results over the weekend;
“It’s a measure of the commitment of the rowers and coaches over the season, that the rowers can come over to this venue to compete against the best and achieve the amazing results they did.
“Fantastic team effort by the rowers, parents and coaches.”
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