Students from Ellen Wilkinson Girls School in Ealing and Cardinal Wiseman School in Greenford were 2,800 young people who took part last week (3 March 2023) in the world’s largest and most inclusive indoor rowing competition, the National Junior Indoor Rowing Championships (NJIRC).
This year marked the return of the in-person event for the first time since 2020 and was hosted at London’s Copper Box Arena on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and the John Charles Centre for Sport in Leeds.
Organised by London Youth Rowing (LYR) since 2007, this year’s NJIRC, saw 2,800 competitors across both venues for schools, clubs and community groups take part in a full day of indoor rowing racing.
Ellen Wilkinson had 20 of its students taking part from years 7,8, 12 and 13 while Cardinal Wiseman had eight students from years 7 and 8 taking part.
Best performer was year 7 pupil Elsa Silberbauer-Bray who came 37th in her rowing.
For Cardinal Wiseman, its top perfomer was year 7 Emily White who came 24th.
Matt Rostron, CEO of LYR: “Once again, NJIRC delivered not only a truly brilliant sporting event, but supported our objectives of increasing the opportunities and possibilities for so many young people across the country. Despite very successful virtual events, bringing back NJIRC in person generated so much excitement for everyone involved. For so many young people, it’s the highlight of their sporting year and the race that they all strove for.”
Sir Steve Redgrave, Chairman of the Henley Royal Regatta Charitable Trust, said: “What NJIRC has done, and has been doing for a number of years, is vitally important. And now, having one up in Leeds on the same day, is fantastic. It’s about engaging people, getting into the sport and having opportunity. The more opportunities that we can widen our youth in all sorts of areas, the more it’s going to improve their lives and improve society.”
