On the last weekend of half term, three members of the Shiplake
College Boat Club travelled to Boston, Lincolnshire to compete at the Great
Britain Junior Trials. The boys pitched themselves against the country’s best
junior rowers, in a bid to gain selection to represent Great Britain in the
summer. The trials consisted of a time trial over 5000m on Saturday and Sunday.
Successful candidates would gain a place in the next round of trials in April.
Will Carey competed in J18 pairs, joining forces with a friend
from Pangbourne College. The boys raced against 50 other pairs and achieved 37th
place. Will gained vital experience at
the trial that he will call upon next year. We are now waiting to hear if he
will be invited to the next trial.
Seb Newman and Henry Blois- Brooke raced in the J16 event,
which is used as an early identification trial to spot upcoming talent. The
boys used this trial as experience for next year when they become senior
rowers. On Saturday they raced in their single sculls over 5000m against 43
other competitors. Seb and Henry performed exceptionally to finish 10th
and 18th respectively, placing them amongst the best J16s in the UK.
The best was yet to come, though, as they partnered up on the Sunday to race in
double sculls.
Having joined forces, the pair entered the race with great
confidence following their recent successes. After dominating the double sculls
boat class so far this year, they were both looking forward to showing the
performance of which they were capable. Director of Rowing Mr David Currie
commented: ‘The boys raced hard and fulfilled their potential, winning the
trial by the narrowest of margins. Just 0.1 of a second separated the Shiplake
boys from the next best crew. Both Henry and Seb will have gained valuable
experience from this and I am delighted they have made themselves known to the
Great Britain selectors by performing well.’