City crew finished just two seconds shy of a British bronze

The young scullers of Peterborough City Rowing Club couldn’t quite gain a podium finish at the British Junior Championships in Nottingham last weekend.

The J16 coxless quad of Daniel Armstrong, Tom Calver, Jake Wakefield-Lilley and Bert Papworth came closest missing out on a bronze by just two seconds.

A creditable five City crews qualified for A finals despite facing stiff competition from the best junior rowers in the country.

Athletes raced over the 1500m time trial course at the National Watershports Centre in the morning, followed by 2000m side-by-side races across six lanes to determine the medalists.

Papworth also qualified for the A final in his J15 single, where he finished in fifth position.

Another crew to race in an A final was Joe Beesley, James Ryder, James Garfield, Hugo Carter and cox Adam Taylor in the J15 coxed quad event.

Despite qualifying ninth in the time trials, they exceeded expectations by progressing through to the A final where they finished fifth overall.

Harriet Drake-Lee also reached the A final in her Women’s J18 single where she placed fifth.

Her club mate Charlotte Bolton was just a second short from joining her in the A final, but instead qualified for the B final where she finished in third place.

Ella Darrington also finished fifth in her A final in the women’s J16 singles event, less than a second behind Walbrook Rowing Club in fourth.

Darrington also competed in the Women’s J18 double alongside Scarlett Dewar from Agecroft Rowing Club.

They finished fourth in the B final, placing them 10th overall, which was a great result considering Darrington raced up an age group.

Another crew to race in a B final was Grace Niklasson and Lydia Hilton in the double sculls who crossed the line in sixth position.

There were also many Peterborough crews that reached C finals in their event.

Ellie Cooke won her C final in the Women’s J18 singles event, as did Devonne Piccaver in the Women’s J16 singles.

Alice Dovey finished third in the Women’s J15 singles, and the women’s J15 coxed quad of Erin Ansell-Crook, Lottie Tasker, Wiktoria Szubzda, Sophie Bicknell and cox Peggy Papworth finished fifth, just one second behind Queen Elizabeth High School in fourth.

Peterborough City’s Sophie Bicknell, Lottie Tasker, Wiktoria Szubzda and Erin Ansell-Crook in the Women’s J15 coxed quad.

Bert Papworth in action in the J15 Single Sculls at the British National Championships

Lydia Hilton and Grace Niklasson in the women’s J16 double in Nottingham.