A JUNIOR member of Warrington Rowing Club has scored a hat trick of gold medals this season.
By winning the recent British Rowing Championships WJ15 double sculls with partner Claudia Wright at Strathclyde Lock, Holly McMullen achieved the remarkable success. Both are pupils of Lymm High School.
For junior rowers three summer events, the Junior Inter-regional Regatta, the National Schools Regatta and the British Championships mark the pinnacle of national standard competitive challenge.
Holly won the WJ14 single sculls at the Junior Inter-regional Regatta in April and, in partnership with Claudia, the WJ15 double sculls at both the National Schools Regatta in May and the British Rowing Championships recently.
Club chairman Richard Sinnott said: “Holly came to rowing early when her athletic potential was spotted by one of our teacher-coaches at Lymm High School. She has shown unstinting dedication to learning and improving and this summer we have seen the results both as an individual and as a crew rower with Claudia.
“When you consider Holly is also the reigning British Indoor Rowing Champion for her age group you can begin appreciate what a high-performance athlete she is and how pleased Warrington Rowing Club feels to have her competing in our colours.”
Holly and Claudia came through the qualifying series as the fastest boat but the final was closely contested over the 2000m course on Strathclyde Loch. They demonstrated their maturity and led the race from start to finish with enough control to hold off a late challenge from Norwich.
Richard said: “What a great double achievement for Holly and Claudia. To win either of the major national summer regattas requires careful preparation and immense concentration through a series of challenging races. To take both titles in the same season is an historic achievement for Warrington.”
In the WJ16 quadruple sculls the Warrington crew of Beth Laidlaw, Frankie Sinnott, Fae Atkinson and Ellen Thomas took the bronze medal. The girls were in a strong position to compete for the gold but the boat encountered technical trouble on the water that hampered progress in the latter stages of the race.
Warrington sent its customary large contingent of junior rowers to compete for the championships and results were:
WJ18, Quad Sculls, Fae Atkinson, Alison Bailey, Emily Clark and Ciara Haymer, 4th in final.
WJ16 Quad Sculls, Fae Atkinson, Beth Laidlaw, Ellen Thomas, Frankie Sinnott, Bronze Medal.
J15 Double Sculls, Holly McMullen and Claudia Wright, Champions.
WJ15 Double Sculls, Kate Furnell and Lucy Shard, First round.
WJ15 Double Sculls, Caitlin Anderson and Louise Bailey, First round.
WJ15 Quad Sculls, Susannah Clark, Daisy Dell, Hannah Furnell, Hannah Lester and Sophie McQuillian (cox), Semi-final.
WJ14 Double Sculls, Hannah Whiteley and Deanna Wooler, 4th in final.
J16 Single Sculls, Matthew Pownall, First round.
J16 Double Sculls Henry Balcerak and Oliver Brierley. 5th in final.
J14 Quad Sculls. Thomas Glover, Paul Lawton, Scott Ozsanlav Harris, Alistair Saxby and Megan Dunbavand (cox), 2nd round.
Pictured: Holly, Claudia and other medal winners from Warrington
