The Junior InterRegional Regatta is one of the premier national competitions on the junior rowing calendar and their support of adaptive rowing has grown steading over the years culminating in this past week’s highpoint. After a few years of successful trialling, this year’s JIRR scored teams points for the adaptive entries and results raising the profile of the racing even more. The field was reduced a bit by several scratched entries of due to the ongoing flood conditions which have precluded adequate racing preparation on many river stretches so look for an even bigger competition near year.
The competition report by British Rowing included a highlight from the adaptive racing:
- Rohan Ladva of Thames London (Hampton School BC) took home the first gold medal of the day in the Adaptive open singles, finishing the 1,500m race in a time of 04:34.01 – followed by the scullers from North West, 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.”
Congratulations to the adaptive rowers who all earned points for their teams…
- Rohan Ladva, Thames London (Hampton)
- Owen Davies, Northwest
- Isaac Clarkson, West Midlands (Stratford upon Avon)
- Jack Donaghy, Northern (Tees)
