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Thames Upriver and East Midlands shine at Junior-Inter Regional Regatta 2024

Thames Upriver retained the Open and Overall Victores Ludorum, whilst East Midlands took home the Women’s trophy after a full day of brilliant racing in Nottingham

Mild conditions met competitors at Holme Pierrepont Country Park on Saturday, 20 April for British Rowing’s first Championship event of the year – Junior Inter-Regional Regatta.

Thirteen regions battled it out for medals, with Team Scotland making their debut appearance at the competition. Co-Team Manager for Scotland Ronan Welch said: “It’s really exciting to be along for the first ever time. The parents have loved it, the coaches have loved it and most importantly, the juniors have absolutely loved it. Hopefully we’ll be back for future years, and hopefully for a win.”

Rohan Ladva of Thames London (Hampton School BC) took home the first gold medal of the day in the Adaptive open singles, finishing over six seconds ahead of the sculler from the North West who was followed by West Midlands and Northern.

Hampton coach Joshua Butler said: “Rohan was a little bit nervous, but I think he dealt with it really well. All the competitors and coaches were super friendly which settled everyone’s nerves. It’s really cool that there’s a space for these athletes to grow and develop. Especially for someone like Rohan to come and compete – his parents told me it was the best day of his life. Hopefully in the future we can see more adaptive athletes identified and racing, it’s a space with a lot of room for growth – especially in rowing.”

“Seeing crews from across the country winning medals showed the breadth and depth of not just one region – everyone has been represented.” – Jess Eddie, Deputy Event Chair

A morning of time trials gave way to a long afternoon of finals. With two hours of racing to go, Northern and North West were leading the Victor Ludorum – closely followed by Thames Upriver. An hour later the tide had turned, this time with Eastern on top and Northern, North West and Thames Upriver tied for second place. Scotland were also vying for podium position after a particularly strong set of women’s raced later in the day.

With a fantastic performance in the single sculls events totalling two silver, two gold and one bronze medal, the North West won the Barbara Wilson Trophy for single scullers, presented for the first time this year.

An exciting open J16 eights A Final saw Thames London win the Nigel Smith Claret Jug by over 10 seconds, followed by Thames Upriver and West Midlands within a few seconds of each other in silver and bronze. The women’s eights soon followed, this time seeing Henley RC win for Thames Upriver, followed by Thames London and North West.

It was a great day for Shanklin Sandown RC’s open J16 double sculls crew, who won their A Final for Wessex (for the third year in a row!). Louis and Carl were happy with their performance, saying “we came second in the time trial and just gave it all in the final!”

Medals were presented by Deputy Event Chair Jess Eddie, who was impressed with the standard of racing shown throughout the day. “The buzz down at the finish line is incredible. Seeing crews from across the country winning medals showed the breadth and depth of not just one region – everyone has been represented. It’s great to be a part of today.”

The women’s J16 coxless fours stormed across the line for the final A Final of the day, with just a second separating first and third place. Glasgow Academy took the win for Scotland, followed by East Midlands and Thames London. Co-Team Manager for Scotland Cara O’Donnel called the race “nail-biting”. “The athletes have had so much fun, we’re really proud of them for making the trip – some of them all the way from Inverness!”

At the end of racing it was Thames Upriver who retained the titles for Open and Overall Victores Ludorum. Team Manager Mark Wilkinson said, “It was great to see the conditions allowing for some great racing. I think all the teams and boats have raced fantastically – what a great way to start the UK regatta season off! Thank you to British Rowing for putting on a great event!”

East Midlands took home the Women’s Victor Ludorum trophy; a slightly stunned Joshua Rhodes-Hook said, “I’m surprised! We performed today. I’m proud of our girls and the entire region.”

The Martin Humphreys Cup is awarded each year to the highest placed team across all events out of those which were placed between 7th and 12th in 2023. This year the Cup was awarded to the Northern region.

Thank you to our amazing volunteers!

Event Chair Luke Dillon summarised the day as the sun set on the final trophy presentations.  “It’s been absolutely fantastic to see crews from all over the country competing through the day. Every athlete at the event has been selected to represent their region and so has already demonstrated that they are competitive. The JIRR gives them the opportunity to learn about selection and being part of a team, an invaluable experience for those looking for GB selection in the future. I’d like to say a massive thank you to the huge team of volunteers that make the event possible, as well as the Team managers and coaches who support the teams from trials through to the event itself.”

Final Victores Ludorum Standings

Position	Overall	Open	Women’s
1	Thames Upriver	Thames Upriver	East Midlands
2	Thames London	North West	Thames Upriver
3	North West	Thames London	Scotland

Trophy Winners

Trophy	Region
CUWBC Rose Bowl for WJ16 eights	Thames Upriver
Nigel Smith Claret Jug for J16 eights	Thames London
Barbara Wilson Cup for Single Sculls Events	North West
Martin Humphrys Cup for Small Region	Northern
Dame Di Ellis DBE Shield for Overall Victor Ludorum	Thames Upriver
Winner of the Colborne Cup for Open Victor Ludorum	Thames Upriver
Margaret Marshall Cup for Women’s Victor Ludorum	East Midlands

Find full results and official photos on our website