Trentham Boat Club

 

Trentham juniors help the region to triumph

 

Members of Trentham Boat Club junior section helped the North West region to victory in a national rowing championship recently.

 

Following their wonderful success at the regional finals in March, members of the club represented the region at the inter-regional regatta. Teams from all over the country, each representing their region competed in races at the National Watersports Centre, Nottingham.

 

Putting in impressive performances in their heats, each boat made it through to the grand final where they competed for medals.

 

The first member of the club through to his final was Lee Harrison. Representing the region for the 3rd year running, Lee was pushed hard by the other finalists throughout his race. Putting in a final spurt as he neared the finishing line, Lee finished in second place, taking home the silver medal. Slightly disappointed not to have brought home a gold medal Lee will now be concentrating on his GCSEs whilst training for GB trials later in the season.

 

Next down in the 1500m course were the boys J15 team. Having won the regional trials in both rowing and sculling the boys had high hopes of a medal. Taking part for the first time in a rowing race at this standard, the boys worked hard to be in the running for a medal throughout the race. 750m from the finish they put in a push, closing on the leaders to the finish was the closest of the day with the boys finishing in a creditable 4th place.

 

Hoping to follow on from the success of last year, the girls J15 team hoped to again bring home medals from the event. Pushing hard throughout the race the girls were in contention for a medal, with a final spurt for the line the girls brought home silver. With the National Schools Regatta held on the same course later in the season, the girls feel hopeful of putting in a good showing following their performance in this championship.

 

The last Trentham boat down the course was the girls J16 coxless quad. The team was altered from last year’s finalists by the inclusion of Rebecca Dell, who only aged 15 was replacing Lucy Cruxton who was away racing with the GB team.  The girls put to practice all their training and held on to a medal position throughout the race. As the line approached they pushed and finished with a Bronze medal. Lucy will return to the team and they will begin training for the National Championships to be held in Strathclyde in July.

 

Trenthams head Coach Darren Barton was very pleased with the efforts of all the team and was happy that the team had helped the North West hold onto the victor ludorum for the second year.  

 

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Trentham Boat Club gets a grant
of nearly £15,000

 

Trentham Boat Club has just taken delivery of 3 new boats following successful fund raising by one of its junior members.

 

Last year during the National Schools championships our boys J15 team was making its way to the start when there was a slight accident causing the rudder to fall off. Despite this and with no steering the boys tried so hard that they won their heat and progressed through to the final where they finished in a creditable 4th place.

 

After the race Matthew Fair, one of the young rowers, decided that they needed a new boat and set about raising the funds needed. He put in an application for £14,921.24 to the Youth Opportunities Fund, government money designed to support youth projects that is decided upon by a panel of young people. In February this year the club heard that Matthews application had been successful and it has now taken delivery of the boats brought with the grant.

 

Darren Barton head coach Trentham Boat Club said ‘Many of the boats we have been using were given to us when the club formed in 2004. We were very grateful for the boats but they are now too old, too heavy and too damaged for our young people to use in competition. We have some very very talented young rowers many of whom could go a long way in the sport given the right equipment and hard work.

 

'Because the old boats were donated they were not matched to the weight requirements of each team and the young rowers had to use any boat they could. The new boats meet with the latest standards in design technology and will help our young people achieve the standard their talents will allow. I know these boats will be put to good use, they have been specifically chosen to meet the needs of the junior members of the club. The older boats will not be discarded and will be used by novice rowers, this will mean new young rowers can start to train and we can get new young people involved in the sport.

 

'We are all very grateful to Matthew for taking the time and effort to put in this application I know he and all the team will benefit from his hard work for many years to come.’

  

Matthew Fair said ‘When we race we go against some of the richest clubs in the country. Our boats aren’t just second-hand, some of them are older than me. I just wanted to have the same chance as the other teams and not feel disadvantaged because of our boats. We work just as hard as the other teams and I think we deserve good boats too.’

 

The first race the boats will be used in will be the National Schools Championship at Nottingham in May when one will be used by all 3 junior teams over the 3 days of competition.

 

Nick Aldridge
T: 01785 816037
E: gailandnick@btinternet.com