Sixth Former finishes 7th in Junior World Rowing Championships

Stroke: Saskia Budgett, Fionnuala Gannon, Heidi Long, Mathilda Martin (Bow). Fionnuala Gannon is second from left.

Fionnuala Gannon, Lower Sixth Form student, made her foray into international rowing at the Junior World Rowing Championships in Hamburg last week. Fionnuala was part of the Great Britain Women’s IV.

The experience of the ups and downs of elite competition started early on for the crew when the bow girl was declared injured on the eve of the regatta and a substitute athlete was flown in to replace her. This meant the crew had only had a handful of outings together before the start of racing and needed to quickly recover from the upset.

Despite this they had a good first heat, finishing in the top 3 and going straight to the semi-finals with the 7th fastest time of the day. To progress to the A Final they needed to finish in the top 3 of their semi-final. The crew just missed out to Belarus with a 4th placing and instead qualified for the B Final.

On finals day they lined up for the B final, to determine the placings from 7th - 12th, and had a tremendous row to win the final and beat the next crew, New Zealand, by the tiniest of margins, rowing past them on the line.

It takes great mental strength and maturity to cope with events like this at World level and Fionnuala and her crew mates should be congratulated on their performance and very pleased with their progress through the competition. Seventh at the World Championships - a fine end to Fionnuala's season and a great foundation for next season. Very well done.

Mr Walters

Head of Rowing