2013 Titles- J184x, Met Regatta- J184x, Marlow Regatta
Coach- Livinia Cowell-Sherriff
Munich Representatives- Seb Devereux
Leander are, by all accounts, the pinnacle of rowing. Home to the majority of the current GB senior team, Leander are an ‘invite only’ club based in Henley on Thames and are probably the most notable rowing club in the world. Therefore, you would probably expect their junior squad, a section of a club that is often seen as the foundation of future excellence, to be of a certain caliber. However they have been relatively quiet recently, especially last year where their Fawley entry was knocked out on the Wednesday by a strong Melbourne Grammar School crew. However, their program, that is designed to propel potential stars to the next level, has attracted some of the best junior scullers in the country to add their profiles to the picture.
Seb Devereux is the undisputed star of this years Leander quad. Seb moved from Marlow to Leander this year, having been in the Marlow quad that was the losing finalist in the Fawley last year, and is currently completing the Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (AASE) at The Henley College as part of the college’s new partnership with Leander. He has had a very impressive year on his own, winning the Jun 1x at the Vesta Scullers Head as well as CH1x at NSR by clear water. His monstrous ergo [16:03 over 5k] has made him an attractive prospect for the GB Junior Rowing Team and he rowed in the gold medal winning quad that competed at Munich Regatta. He has now added his talents to the quad and they are unbeaten since then, winning both Met and Marlow in comfortable fashion. Leander have also added the talents of Sam Mottram, formerly of Walton, to the bows and the boat has really increased in speed recently. The other two lads, Ollie Fredrick Lees and Harry Uglow [That was the name on the Marlow entry sheet], are a product of Leander’s junior program and Ollie teamed up with Seb at February Trials to record a 2nd and 1st place in junior doubles.
I don’t know if Leander have the power to challenge Marlow but they will certainly fancy themselves to be there at the weekend and I can really see them pushing the likes of Windsor and Westminster. I wasn’t convinced by them until I saw their time at Marlow Regatta, which was, in variable conditions, 9 seconds faster than Marlow’s time in the final of Sen 4x. This shows that they have the speed and the power and it will be interesting to see how they compare come Henley. I’m predicting them a Saturday finish and the possibility of a final spot, depending on the relative speed of both the Dutch crew and the likes of Westminster/Borlase/Windsor.
The photo was taken from http://www.leander.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Junior-4x.jpg
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