On Sunday 11th October, two of our junior crews entered the Junior International Championships hosted by Coxside Gig Club in Plymouth, with an Under 16 crew including Isabella, Georgie, Peter H, Oscar, Marnie and Ruben and an Under 14 crew including Eli, Evelyn, Florence, Indi, Livia and Florence W.
The crews had been working and training hard for this and it absolutely paid off with a great weekend of rowing under their belts and some incredibly strong races, and a Silver medal for the Under 14s!
A huge well done to all of our Junior rowers who took part, and thank you to all the parents, coxes, and towers who helped make this happen for them.
Read the full rowing reports from Indi (Under 14s), who only started rowing at the beginning of the Summer, and Peter (Under 16s) here:
Under 14s – written by Indi
Training
For a few weeks leading up to the competition, me and my crew mates (entering the under 14s free) trained together 2-3 times a week, as preparation. We would practise things like racing starts, and going at full out race pace for 6-8 minuets. I think this massively helped us as a crew, as we got to spend lots of time together and adjust to rowing together. Additionally, many of us were doing regular Thursday rows, whether that was crew or not, so we had loads of practice.
The morning of the race
The morning of this race was not like anything I’ve ever done, with a 5am start, and a two hour drive down to Plymouth it was quite the experience. When we arrived, everyone was clearly excited, and there was a nice feeling that our training over the last few weeks was worth it. This was also when we were given our t-shirts, which was very cool obviously. Getting the boat ready to use and watching them all go down was the final addition to all this, making it feel very real.
The races!!
The under 14s free competed in two races, and I thoroughly enjoyed both! Placing 4th and 1st definitely helped with that. Once we were all in the boat and ready to go, there was an amazing sense of team spirit, and it was so obvious how much everyone wanted to do well for each other. One of my favourite moments from the whole day was crossing the finish line in first with my crew.
Under 16’s – written by Peter
Wow, wow, wow! The Junior International Championships in Plymouth, what a day. I was very impressed with the U16s today, they represented the Bristol Gig Club fantastically. From the start of training where lots of fantastic effort was put in by the crew to the outstanding performance and enthusiasm the crew brought on race day, the team really showed the true gig rowing colours of Bristol with pride and pure excellence.
Every single member of the crew put in maximum effort, great communication skills and brilliant teamwork to make a wet day in Plymouth a weekend to remember. Of course, this would not be possible without the help from the lovely parents and Lucy, our cox, who really encouraged us Under 16s to show our true potential.
Many thanks to V for transporting Young Bristol (brilliant to see her running well) and V’s outstanding support really motivating the crew. The preparation for the event was hard and required lots of concentration and hard work, but over the past couple of weeks the team has really improved on key aspects of gig racing, such as the starts and phenomenal timing and power, and are destined to become even better rowers in the future.
The day may have been wet and windy but the spirits were high and everyone’s hard work was truly noticed. Each member of the crew came together to perform a brilliant race day, despite getting held up a bit in their second race. I know the 5am wake-up call was surprising and the 2-hour drive seemed like 5, but seeing the crew and getting our awesome t-shirts really amplified the real experience of gig rowing.
The crew worked in perfect harmony and nothing more could have been asked of them. What a fantastic way to round out the 2026 year for the Under 16s. Thank you so much to everyone involved!
