The Isle of Wight Rowing Forum (IWRF) is now coming to the end of its 6th year of existence and it's benefits keep coming as Shanklin Sandown RC joined Ryde RC, Newport RC and the newly formed Ryde School BC for another junior indoor rowing competition.
Shanklin once again took a large squad of juniors whom all performed exceptionally well on the day.
In the Year 7 Boys competition Louis Gamble made a first competitive appearance for the club, winning both the sprint and endurance event to take a debut gold medal! In the Year 7 Girls competition Scarlett Phelan was also making her debut for the club, and like Louis was very successful, coming joint first in the endurance event and second in the sprint to take home a silver medal!
Three Shanklin rowers were in the Year 8 Boys event, Riley Horrix, Ethan Walters and Sam Evans Murray. In the endurance event Riley took the win with Ethan close behind in second and Sam completed a Shanklin podium lock out in third place! In the sprint event, Ethan was unable to compete due to injury, with Riley again taking a win to take a gold medal and Sam finishing third again to take the silver! In the Year 8 Girls event, Rachael Debenahm debuted also for the club, finishing second in both her sprint and endurance events to take a fantastic silver medal!
Following Rachael was Mia Phelan in the Year 9 Girls races. In two very close races Mia was able to win both the sprint and endurance to take a hard fought gold medal!
Then came the turn of Sophie Atkin and Emily Faithfull in the Year 10 Girls events. In the endurance Emily took first place with Sophie not far being in second. Then came the turn of the sprint races, where Sophie took a strong win to earn her the gold medal! Emily was unable to compete and took the bronze!
In the Year 12/13 Boys event, Jamie Gamble earned second in both his races to take a silver medal overall with a strong performance! Daisy Faithfull was shortly afterwards in the Year12/13 Girls event, taking both wins and earning the gold medal!
The final event of the day as per usual was the amusing (and painful!) realy event, where all the rowers are mixed up into random teams. In a close race, it was Team B that took the win!
The event was a resounding success as it normally is, with one of the biggest turn outs we've had. All thanks goes to Ryde RC and Stuart Johnson who allow such an event to take place. A special mention goes to Jamie Gamble and Joe Robertson who lent Stuart a hand in the hope that they can help run the event in the future!