Shanklin Sandown Rowing Club joined countless other Island based sporting clubs at the Isle of Wight Sports Awards last Thursday. The event at Medina Theatre aimed to reward the greatest sporting successes of Isle of Wight athletes in 2016. The club were nominated four times in different categories and were looking to follow in the footsteps of Lesley Walters, who won coach of the year in 2014!
The clubs first nomination saw Ethan Walters take to the stage in the Junior Boys category. Ethan had been nominated for his excellent debut season that saw him win J12 races at Newport and Itchen Junior regatta despite being the youngest rower in these events. His efforts weren't quite enough to give him the win in the category as he faced some other very talented athletes!
Next onto the stage was Daisy Faithful whom had been nominated in the Intermediate Girls category. Daisy had been nominated for a fantastic season that included a bronze at NJIRC and back to back debut wins in the Ladies Novice Sculls. Daisy too missed out on winning her category in the face of yet more very talented athletes!
The final nominations were both in the intermediate team category. The Mens Junior Senior Four were nominated for their South Coast Championship win at Herne Bay in 2016 whilst the Junior 16 squad were recognised for their exploits throughout the season which saw countless wins and the headliner, a second place in the aggregate at Itchen Junior regatta (after 5 wins).
Despite the club not being able to take home any wins from their categories, it was a pleasure to be part of the event and learn about some of the amazing sporting achievements going on outside of our sport! The club would like to thank the Isle of Wight Sports Foundation for yet another great evening and would further like to apologise for some of its members having to leave the ceremony early - they were rushing for a ferry in order to attend the National Junior Indoor Rowing Championships the next day!
