A group of Yorkshire teenagers from Leeds Rowing Club will row over 1,000km on Saturday 5 October, without even leaving Leeds.
Last year the youngsters raised over £6,000 for the club by rowing marathons, in pairs, on erg rowing machines in the car park of the Stourton Boathouse.
This year they are upping the ante, with each duo aiming to row 1km for every GB rower who competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics – that’s 52km per pair!
The challenge was the idea of the young rowers who want to raise much needed funds for buying new, and repairing existing, equipment to help them compete in the upcoming race season. Leeds Rowing Club is a registered charity.
Junior Club Captain Olivia Marks, aged 16, explains:
“Leeds Rowing Juniors all worked hard in training with our coaches last season and that got us some amazing results in regattas all over the country.
“We won a gold medal at the Junior Inter Regional Regatta in Nottingham and bronze at the National Schools Regatta in Windsor. Leeds Rowing Club Juniors, Seniors and Masters also managed to win the Victor Ludorum in Peterborough at the last regatta of the season.
“We’re hoping to do even better in the upcoming season, but to do this, we need to replace outdated and broken equipment. A set of blades (oars) are about £450, and the cost of a new boat is in the thousands.
“We also need a bigger trailer to take our growing team to races and this will be expensive. Our aim is to raise as much as possible from this event and we’re very thankful to family and friends who have already sponsored us.”
Formed in 2006, Leeds Rowing Club is home to members of all age ranges and levels of experience. The Junior Programme was relaunched after the Covid pandemic and has grown to around 80 children, aged between 13 and 18, now taking part from all over the region.
Head Coach for the Junior squad at Leeds, Rob MacKenzie, added:
“Our Juniors have continued to train hard and build on their past successes. They competed in some big events last season, we took two junior boats to Henley Women’s and Henley Qualifiers and are striving to go further in both events this coming year. The excellent results at regional regattas and national competitions have been testament to their commitment to training and their enthusiasm for everything rowing!
“We’ve got an amazing bunch of kids here whose talents we want to nurture. But that can’t be done without financial help. Rowing is an expensive sport and has always been seen as quite elitist. At Leeds Rowing Club we want to show that no matter what your background is, and even if you’re part of a smaller club, you can do well.
“For the children to choose to make this year’s fundraiser even harder than the last one is a credit to them and to the sport.”
Anyone wishing to support the Junior Academy’s Marathon Challenge can do so via a Just Giving page at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/LRC-Junior-Academy. Alternatively, you can contact Leeds Rowing Club directly by emailing rowingatleeds@gmail.com.
This post was written by Vanessa Lincoln
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