With a flourish of medals coming from the Saturday of Munich Regatta, the GB junior team no doubt had set the bar very high for the Sunday. With the aim to replicate the success of the 6 medals won on Saturday (3 golds and 3 silvers) alongside the mixing of athletes in various scratch boats, the junior squad had to be on it from the get-go. Unlike Saturday’s racing structure, Sunday consisted of pre-drawn finals in various categories ensuring an early getaway for all international and local competitors.
Photo via myrowingphoto
Starting the day off in style the double of Rhiannon Morgan and Emily Keen stormed to a victory in their final by a comfortable 12 and 23 second margin over their Polish and Swiss rivals respectively. Emulating the likes of Vickey Thornley and Helen Glover in London 2012, Morgan and Keen started the train of British medal throughout the tropical Sunday in Munich.
The JM2x were next to take centre stage with 2 GB doubles entered. The first double of Marshall and Kemp of Maidenhead RC suffered heartbreak in their final after being in the bronze medal position for the first 1500m of the race only to be pipped by the Germans by 0.7 sec. The second double of Joss and Adamson took to the last final of the JM2x and edged out their Croatian competitors after rowing through them in the middle 1000m of the race to win their final.
Next up was the first JW sweep boat of the day, the JW4- consisting of Isabel Jonsson, Olivia Caesar, Mary Wright and Celia Matthews. With a lot of GB experience in the boat they showed their real class during the racing. Possibly one of the closest races of the morning the JW 4- fought back from 2nd in the 1000m edge out the Swiss and Germans by 1.8 and 2.5 seconds respectively. Likewise, the JM 4- also had similar successes by beating the Germans by a comfortable margin of 7 seconds ensuring a win on both days for GB in JM 4-.
The JW 4- split up into 2 GB JW 2- which saw the Henley pair of Wright and Jonsson race first soon followed by the pair of Caesar and Matthews. Both pairs raced valiantly through a tough field with Wright and Jonsson claiming a very respectable 4thand Caesar and Matthews picking up a bronze to add to the medal pool for GB.
Photo via myrowingphoto
The JW 4x had a difficult albeit a successful day on the Sunday. Having finished 3rdin their semi-final which included the eventual winners the Czechs, the quad of Lottie Orr, Izzy Lack, Georgina Robinson Ranger and Natasha Strudwick picked themselves up to win the B final of the JW 4x in a tough competitive field.
The JM 4x was the last sculling boat GB fielded and was a force to be reckoned with. After an inspiring comeback from 2ndin the first 1500m, the quad of Victor Kleshnev, James Cartwright, Jake Offiler and Bryn Ellery held off the Germans to take the win in the 3rdsemi-final of the JM 4x. Unfortunately, the Germans fought back in the A final and the GB JM 4x were overturned by the Germans to take a bronze medal in a field which contained numerous Junior Worlds competitors.
Then came the final event, the blue riband event. The GB JM 8+ contained a wealth of GB and England Home Countries experience and didn’t fail to disappoint. With a win from the previous day of the regatta all eyes were yet again on the top prize. With a dominating win, alongside the fastest time of the day, the JM 8+ were favourites to win. In a final containing not one but four German eights, the JM 8+ frontloaded themselves out of the blocks. Neck and neck with the Polish, the GB JM 8+ dug deep and with the wealth of experience managed to pull away in the last 500m and (more than) pipped the Poles by 2.33 seconds. A very close race indeed, however it ended the “Super Saturday” for the GB junior squad with a gold and a total of 7 medals on Sunday ( 5 Golds and 2 Bronzes). 
Photo by Helen Taylor
Looking at the success the juniors have had this weekend, it is easy to forget the many absences in the squad that competed; detailed here in our run down of the Munich team. In light of the success from the likes of St. Paul's, who had a very impressive double-win in the Challenge 4-/+ at Wallingford, we certainly look ahead to an exciting summer of international competition, considering they have at least six athletes and coxswain in good positions to make the GB team this summer.
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