DTARC junior member Rose Willoughby recently attended the national J16 which took place in Peterborough over Easter weekend. Rose was selected as the female representative from the West region, based on the results of the regional J16 camp which took place earlier in the year. The ethos of the national camp is very much about skill development, giving young athletes the chance to experience what for many will be their first training camp away from their home club. Over the course of the four day camp Rose was able to benefit from coaching from a variety of different coaches from around the country, and gain experience rowing with lots of different juniors of her age. As well as providing great experience, the camp also proved very successful for Rose who finished top in the skills tests. Bearing in mind that the camp was attended by 40+ juniors selected from regions across the country, this was a remarkable achievement.

On the 17^th of April seven DTARC juniors, along with juniors from Bideford Reds, Exeter, Castle Dore and Grenville College, travelled to the National Water Sports Centre in Nottingham to represent the West region in the 2005 inter-regional regatta. The annual event is competed by the 12 ARA regions, with points being accrued in each event to decide upon the overall title. All DTARC athletes competed well against tough opposition from around the country. In the WJ15 2x, Rose Willoughby and Ellie Peck came 3^rd in the B final, placing 9^th overall, with Catherine Wiseman matching this result in the WJ15 1x. In the J14 2x Luke Chapman and Tim Whittet, racing on a multi-lane course for the first time, showed a huge improvement between their heat and final. Having been slowest of the 12 competitors in the heat they had a great row in the B final, placing 2^nd, 8^th overall. In the J14 1x, Ember Lagden, also racing multi-lane for the first time and rowing up an age category, finished a creditable 10^th. The best result of the day came from Rosie Cardale who, along with two rowers from Grenville and one from Exeter, qualified for the A final of the WJ16 4x, finishing 5^th overall. With the help of the points scored by DTARC juniors the West region as a whole came 9^th, up two places on the previous two years.

Click Here for the Junior Inter-Regional Results (Excel file. xls.)

The wet phase of the club’s 2005 PO programme got off to a noisy but successful start on April 23^rd. The 3 partner schools have recruited a record number of year 7s this year, with 45 carrying out a capsize drill at the local Pavilions pool in preparation for going on the water. The evening was great success, which bodes well for the remainder of the course. Over the next 10 weeks the year 7s will be learning the basics of sculling at the club, split across Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings between 4.30-6pm.