British Junior Rowing Championships 2018 – WJ18 1x

Bringing an end to what has been a very successful season of junior racing, British Junior Rowing Championships is always a very exciting competition. This year, with so many talented scullers, I’m certain that competition will be tough which will ensure a very high standard of racing. It will be exciting to see how these girls – many of whom have been racing each other throughout the season – perform to really prove themselves in this last event.

Agecroft RC – G. Dooley

Georgina Dooley has had an incredible season so far. Placing 13^th overall in the GB U23 assessments in the single scull, she has followed this achievement up with a very impressive first place at Henley Women’s Regatta, amongst others. Having won in the WJ1x at the 2017 Scullers Head and taking first place at Brit Champs, Nottingham City Regatta and Wallingford Regatta, Dooley is certainly in a very strong position to place highly at BRJC.

Chester Le Street – E. Larsen, B. Forster

Another strong competitor, Eve Larsen came 9^th overall at both the Early ID Assesment in November, and at the GB junior trials in Nottingham this year in the 1x. She also took first place in the WJ18 1x at the 2017 Chester le Street Regatta. Forster meanwhile, won the W1x event at the 2017 Durham LDS and took first place in the W2x at this season’s Durham Small Boats Head.

Tideway Scullers School – O. Supple

At the 2017 British Rowing Junior Championships Orla Supple took fourth place in the W1x B final and the bronze medal in the coxless quad and also came fourth in the 2x at Junior Sculling Regatta. Supple also took 9^th place in the WJ16 single scull at last year’s BRJC, so it will be interesting to see whether she betters this performance this year.

Mossbourne Academy – M. Laukyte

Meda Laukyte achieved bronze in the coxless four at 2016 National Schools Regatta and also took bronze in the pair at Junior Sculling Regatta the same year. There are no past results to show her performance in the single scull but it will certainly be interesting to see how she does.

Kings Canterbury – T. Abbott

In 2017, Tilly Abbott attended the junior trials at the GB Assessments in Boston, and in the same year took first place in the single scull at Barnes and Mortlake Regatta. At Gravelines International Regatta, Abbott won both the junior 1x and women’s 1x – a very impressive result! At Ghent, she came 11^th, facing very tough competition, and won the D final in the single scull at 2018 National Schools Regatta. Abbott is a very strong competitor, who I imagine will do very well.

Merchant Taylor’s School – N. Almond

At last year’s Henley Women’s Regatta, Nia Almond got through to the quarter finals in her single scull, a very impressive result given that she had been out of racing for a year due to injury. At the 2017 Chester Regatta she won the women’s elite single scull category, recording the fastest time of the day. Almond came 6^th at the 2017 British Junior Championships in the WJ18 single scull event and is currently the record holder for both 2018 for the fastest 100m time on the ergo, having beaten her record set the previous year.

Northwich RC – E. Cushen

Last year, Ellie Cushen took 9^th place at BRJC, recording the same time of 7.31.2 as fellow competitor Orla Supple. Cushen also raced as part of the quad which took silver in the WJ17 4x at this year’s Junior Sculling Head.

City of Oxford RC – G. Cherry

In 2017, Georgie Cherry raced in the J17 double scull which took first place at the Junior Sculling Regatta, and this year got to the semi finals in the J2x category at Henley Women’s Regatta, losing out to Molesey BC. Given that most of Cherry’s recent successes seem to have been in the double scull, it will be interesting to see how she performs in the single scull.

Gloucester Hartpury – C. Carpenter, K. Spencer

Both Charlotte Carpenter and Karrie Spencer raced at in the single scull at this year’s Ghent International Spring Regatta, coming 19^th and 21^st respectively in their race.

Isle of Ely RC – M. Johnson, P Hayden

At last year’s Henley Royal Regatta, GB Start athlete Molly Johnson raced in the quad which came second in the Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup, the first time Isle of Ely has reached a Henley final with its junior squad. Johnson also raced in the double scull at the 2017 Home International Regatta, coming in in first place. At the 2017 Sculling Festival, Johnson won in the single scull in the J18, U23 and Senior categories, an incredibly impressive result demonstrating her strength and ability. This year, Johnson won the WJ18 1x category at The Scullery, and, together with fellow competitor Phoebe Hayden, took bronze in the 2x with at National Schools Regatta. Overall, her season has been very successful so I’m sure she will perform well at BRJC. Hayden and Johnson also took third place at this year’s Wallingford Regatta. Phoebe Hayden took first place in both the W1x Band 2 category and the WJ18 1x at the 2018 Peterborough City Regatta. It seems that both girls have a strong set of results to back them, so will be exciting to see how they race.

King’s School Ely – H. Lancaster

Holly Lancaster has done incredibly well over the past couple of years. In 2017, the GB Start athlete came fifth overall in the single scull, exceeding all expectations from coaches. She followed this success up with an impressive win in the WJ16 1x and fifth place in the WJ16 1x at the 2017 British Rowing Junior Championships, so it will be interesting to see if she betters the result in the 1x this year. Lancaster took third place at the 2017 Ghent International Spring Regatta, and first place in the quad at the 2017 International Belgium Junior Championships. Her most recent success was first place in the WJ2x B final at 2018 National School’s Regatta. With such racing experiences, I’m sure that Lancaster will place well in the coming competition.

Marlow RC – C. Fennell

Another exceptional athlete, Charlotte Fennell came 10^th in the J16 single scull at the 2016 GB trials. At this year’s National School’s Regatta, Fennell came third in the 4x in the A final, an impressive result, and followed this up with a second place at Henley Royal Regatta. It will be interesting to see how Fennell does in the single scull, with such strong results in the quad.

St Paul’s Girls School – A. Cowan

At the 2016 BRJC, Cowan came first in the J16 1x, and the following year took third place in the single scull at Scullers Head. Most recently, Cowan came 6^th in the A final at the 2018 Junior Sculling Regatta. It seems that Cowan generally has more experience at sweep rowing, however that’s not to say that she won’t perform well in the single scull, so it will be interesting to see how she does.

Sudbury RC – A. Moule

Amelia Moule has been successful in the single scull over the past few seasons. In 2017, Moule won the WJ16 2x and WJ16 1x at Peterborough Spring Regatta and followed this up with a win in the 4x and second place in the WJ18 1x at this year’s Peterborough Spring Regatta. At the Ball Cup, Moule won the WJ17 1x and came second in the WJ18 4x. Overall, these recent successes look to place Moule in a confident position for the coming races.

Walton RC – K. Stenning

Walton has had lots of successes with its juniors in recent times. Stenning came second in the 4x at this year’s School’s Head, and had a very successful season in 2017, with wins in the WJ18 pair at Pair’s Head and in the single scull at Walton and Weybridge Regatta. Stenning also took silver in the 1x at the 2017 National Junior Sculling Regatta.

Warrington RC – E. Stanhope

At the 2017 BRJC, Ella Stanhope rowed in a composite quad in the WJ16 4x category, where she took second place in the A final. More recently, she came a respectable 24^th at the GB trials in Boston. With past successes in the single scull, it is likely that she will perform well.

Yarm School – H. Wake

In 2016, Hazel Wake came first in the single scull at Durham Regatta, and this year rowed in the women’s quad which won at Tees Regatta. It will be interesting to see how she performs in the single scull.

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Lucy Lloyd

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