Bloxham siblings Arthur (OB), George and Jessie have all had a busy summer kayaking.
It is fantastic to hear that last weekend George (Sy) and Jessie (Ry) represented Banbury and District Canoe Club at the Sobeka Flanders Cup in Belgium. Jessie won two medals – the K1 200m and 2000m – whilst George was racing in the very competitive U16 Boys category, winning heats and making semi-finals and finals, with new personal best times.
Along with older brother Arthur (Sy 10-17), they have all had a busy year of racing, whilst trying to fit training around school commitments. Jessie won bronze medals in both the U14 Girls K1 and K2 races at the National Marathon Championships, and a further bronze at the National Sprint Championships in the K4 race. As a result of her times at the Nationals, she has now been promoted to Girls C for sprints, ahead of many older than her. This weekend she juggled U15A hockey goalie duties at Bloxham on Saturday, with winning a Division 6, 8 mile marathon race on Sunday, against all ages. George has improved his times throughout the year, just missing out on promotion to Boys B this year. After a few leg problems, his marathon racing is now back on target, and he took a comfortable 2nd place in a competitive Division 4 race yesterday.
Arthur, who has been battling a shoulder injury for the last 18 months, saw a welcome return to full fitness by the end of the holidays, with three medals in the U18 Boys races at the National Sprint Championships. He took 3rd in the K1 500, behind the current World Junior 200m champion, and went one better to take silver in both the K2 500 and 1000 races, with different partners. He is now trying to fit training at the Royal Canoe Club around freshers’ week at Roehampton University!
All three will be representing their club again next Sunday at the inter-club Hasler Finals at Richmond.
Not to be outdone, their father, Neil, previously Bursar at Bloxham School, completed the Devizes to Westminster race at Easter. He and his partner, Will Harte, completed the non-stop 125 mile race in just over 24 hours, and raised over ‘4,000 in the process for the Oxford Children’s Hospital.
A great effort by all the family – well done everyone!’
A huge thank you to Siobhan for this report.’