I can remember a time when Great Britain didn’t win any medals at the world junior championships. Strange though it may seem, GB Rowing hasn’t always been as fruitful at junior and U23 level. Last weekend’s exploits in Racice were yet another candid example of the progression that our junior system has made over the past few years, with the men’s team collecting two golds and a silver on a stunning final day in the Czech Republic.
The men’s four were dominant throughout, setting a new world best time for a junior crew as they cruised to victory. Ranked as Great Britain’s top boat before the regatta, the crew was made up of St Paul’s two fastest juniors alongside a Molesey pair who made the final of the Britannia Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta last month. On the men’s sweep side, success should come as no surprise. We’ve just witnessed the most spectacular junior eight, arguably ever, win an unheralded quadruple and set a new Henley record that will stand for generations. Meanwhile, Molesey’s athletes flew under the radar to make a club final at the same Regatta – a remarkable achievement for a junior crew.
The men’s eight featured four St Paul’s athletes, stacked from cox to the six seat, ably supported by rowers from Bedford, Eton, Westminster, Shrewsbury and King’s College School. To watch these boys come home with gold was to witness something special – victory in the two premier sweep events echoed our achievements in Rio two years ago and sets a precedent for Great Britain to build their reputation as one of the world-leading junior nations.
We’ve had spectacular success in the quad of late, winning a memorable gold in 2015, and this crew maintained the culture of quality. A silver may have come as a disappointment to a fiercely ambitious unit, but they were undone by home favourites who had been quicker all week. Two of this crew have contested for major domestic honours in the quad all year and leave the junior circuit with silverware and memories galore.
On the women’s side, the quad finished fifth in a hotly contested field. Once again, Henley Rowing Club’s behemoth of a junior squad provided a majority of the athletes across the women’s team after a stellar season of domestic success.
Coupling these results with the overall team trophy at the Coupe De La Jeunesse, it would be no exaggeration to suggest that Great Britain are in fine shape for the Paris Olympiad. Strangely, the senior team’s success seems to have an inversely proportional relationship with their junior counterparts – it has been well documented that the golden generation appears to have had its day.
So the challenge now is to integrate a wave of hugely talented junior athletes into the senior team. This process is already well underway, with rowers who head to the US for university now being granted access back into the senior team. Sholto Carnegie and Ollie Wynne-Griffith, formerly of Yale, are two of the most notable examples, so this must be the focus moving forward. The majority of the undefeated St Paul’s School crew are heading across the pond, to the likes of Princeton, Cal and Harvard. Lucrative offers of scholarships and financial support flood the inboxes of our most talented junior athletes, offering development and the lure of silverware at some of the world’s most prestigious academic institutions.
Should we resist this?
Absolutely not. The incredible success of the US collegiate programs should be celebrated – they develop our finest athletes in some of their most seminal years and return them to us, a raw junior moulded into a refined, experienced athlete.
The current crop are perhaps some of the most talented juniors ever – we should be ensuring their development into world-class medal-winners is not subject to geography, finance or lack of opportunity.
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