2012 JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS. Plovdiv, Bulgaria 15-19 August

The Northwest was well represented at the Junior World Championship this August in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, with 4 out of the 6 girl scullers from the region, 3 of the 4 having Northwich connections. Lucy Burgess, Northwich Rowing Club was in the Quad Sculls along with Jess Leyden, Hollingworth Lake RC, Katie Bartlett and Jo Unsworth from Nottingham RC and Henley RC  respectively. Emily Ford from the Grange School in Northwich and Annie Rogers, Runcorn RC who attends St. Nicholas High School in Northwich were in the Double Sculls. The Quad was first up on Wednesday, the first day of the Championships, needing to come in the top two to automatically qualify for the Semi-final; they were beaten into third place by the Australians by less than a second. On Thursday again needing to come in the top two, the Double were beaten into third place by France and the USA. In Friday’s repercharges both crews needed to come in the top three to progress to the Semis. This they duly did, the Quad winning their race and the Double coming second to the reigning World Champions Lithuania. Needing to come in the top three to progress to the A final neither crew could quite pull it off, the Quad finishing 4th and the Double 5th sending both to the B final. The Quad crew was particularly disappointed, with three girls retuning from last year’s Quad which finished 7th , they were tipped as potential medallists but once again had to be content with winning the B final again finishing 7th. The Double finished third in the B final which was a great achievement for two girls who had no prior experience at this level. They however being the competitive athletes they are were disappointed not to have come higher than 9th in the world! Plovdiv is Bulgaria’s second city after the capital, Sofia and although it may not be as well known as Lucerne or Munich the rowing facilities are excellent with a purpose built lake in the middle of an extensive sports park. The weather was fantastic giving the British supporters some well earned sunshine after our dreadful summer at home and the Plovdivians friendly and hospitable making it an altogether enjoyable trip. Paul Rafferty, Coach