Lea juniors pull in medal-winning performances at Bedford

Milo Endres, Performance Boys squad member, recalls the junior squad experience at Bedford Small Boats head earlier this month.

On 24 October around 30 rowers from Lea’s performance and competition junior squads competed at Bedford’s Autumn Small Boats Head.

I arrived a bit early for my race so I walked around to see a bit of the area. I thought that the town had a wholesome vibe and was quite picturesque. In fact, the town (mainly the town bridge) reminded me of a Henley training camp I did last season.

The doubles pair Joe and Abie, flanking Murray.

The race course was somewhat challenging, with crews having to navigate their way through certain bridge arches to not get disqualified. This was definitely something that I, as a bow steerer, was preoccupied with and I made sure to walk the race course prior to my race to familiarise myself with it. I, as well as all Lea crews, managed to steer the course well – it seems that rowing on a tricky stretch of water such as the river Lea gave us an advantage.

The winning girl's quad: left to right, Anna, Alice, Darcy and Hannah.

My doubles partner, Seb, and I had a good race considering we only had one training session together. I look forward to doing more races with him in the future, when we will have trained together more.

Overall, all the Lea crews performed very well against the strong competition, with numerous crews achieving medal positions. The women's quad was the fastest women's crew and Alice was the fastest woman overall. Murray also won his race in the single. It was a strong start to the 2021-2022 season that I’m sure all the coaches are pleased with.

Left to right: Evelyn, Olivia, Hetty, Maisie, Joe, Murray & Abie after their medal-winning performances.

A well-earned rest. Milo is at the back, second from right.