Thames Junior Squad – April Update

The Thames Rowing Club Junior squad supported by London Youth Rowing has enjoyed a successful April involving two sets of GB trials, our annual training camp, racing Gent and the Inter-regional regatta in Nottingham.

We are proud to announce that Oscar Bird has been selected to represent the GB junior team in Munich on 9th and 10th May. He was selected after a gruelling 4 days of seat racing at the beginning of April and will be looking to use the experience to bring him closer to GB junior selection this summer.

The squad travelled to Gent in the middle of the month with other London Youth Rowing clubs for training camp. After a tough 6 days of training the squad raced at Ghent Spring International Regatta. Despite the hard week the squad picked up three medals. Alex Kelly was the first winner of the day, picking up gold in J16 singles. The J18 quad of Oscar Bird, Seb Tyrie, Alex Kelly and Fred Beaty went on to pick up the second gold medal of the day. The final medal came from the junior women; J16’s Sarah Riches, Chloe Knight, Thais Umbelino-Purton and Gabby Munyard had a tight race in J18 quads where they picked up an impressive silver medal.

The last weekend of April saw the J16’s travel to Nottingham for the inter-regional regatta. The race was an opportunity for the crews to prepare for the National Schools Regatta later this month. Alex Kelly raced very maturely in a tough headwind to take gold in J16 singles. The quad of Sarah Riches, Chloe Knight, Thais Umbelino-Purton and Gabby Munyard had a tough day of racing and came 4th in a strong field.

Oscar Bird finished off April’s racing with GB trials in Nottingham. He was paired in a composite boat with Westminster School’s Alex Belgarnie. The pair raced a time trial, semi-final and seeded finals which saw them come 5th in the A-final. An excellent achievement against the best juniors in the country.