A gold medal for Aidan Lawlor in the J16 single sculls was the standout performance of the 2026 British Rowing Club Championships last weekend (July 17th to 20th).
A record entry for the Championships at the National Watersports Centre in Nottingham included 18 entries from Durham ARC who came away with heads held high after 15 reached finals for an 83% success rate, despite the schedule for several events having space for less than half the entries to progress beyond the initial time trial.
Relaunched in its new format in 2024 to include Senior and Junior events the 2026 Championships saw a 25% increase in senior entries from the previous year, with over 300 entries each day overall, and 169 clubs represented.
Entries from Durham ARC included a J14 quad, J15 and J16 singles, doubles and quads, J18 singles, double and pair and Senior double and eight.
Friday
Aidan Lawlor kicked off his campaign by entering the J18 1x in the first time-trial on Friday morning but was unable to emulate Quinn Mosley’s double of 2025, finishing in 7.24.5 for a highly commendable 3rd place in the B final.
With only 36 places to qualify for the knockout stages Patrick Lakey was unfortunate to miss out after finishing 40th in the time trial.
Conditions remained good throughout the weekend as time trials continued with Seren Williams and Charlotte Foster in the WJ18 2x finishing in 26th place in the 1500-metre time trial to qualify for the E final over 2000 metres in which they were 4th in 8.25.59.
Two entries for the WJ16 1x saw Iris Mitchell finish 25th and Livvy Terry 27th which took both into the E final in the afternoon, in which positions were reversed with 1st for Livvy in 8.38.61 and 5th for Iris in 8.56.6.
Izzy Maddison entered a WJ18 pair with Sophie Hooper of Durham School and came through time trial and semi-final to secure a place in the B final where they placed 6th in 8.37.32.
Saturday
Saturday was the most successful day with three A final appearances.
Seren Williams was 2nd in the E final of the WJ18 1x in 8.45.60 after placing 29th in the time trial,
In the J16 1x Aidan Lawlor was 1st and Matthew Wheeler 38th in a field of 71 starters, with Matthew two places away from qualification for the finals while Aidan went on to win the semi-final and the A final to take the gold medal in 7.24.15.
Sascha Wang was in the WJ16 2x with Scarlett Wilkinson of Infinity Boat Club, placing 5th in the time trial and 2nd in the semi-final, to go into the A final where the pair finished 6th in 8.03.06.
The Mixed Championship 8+ included Harry Tolmie, Luke Davison and cox Stef Lavelle in a composite eight that also included members from Leicester RC, Nottingham RC, Shiplake College, St Leonard’s School and Tideway Scullers. The composite finished 2nd in the time trial over 1500 metres as all five entries qualified for the A final over 2000 metres, placing 3rd in 6.35.46 to take the bronze medal.
Sunday
Sunday saw J15 and J16 quads and a Women’s Club double in action.
The J15 boys quad of Luigi Fortis, Sam Hancill, Hunor Pinter, Will Tew and cox Scarlett Nicholson were 15th of 37 in the time trial to qualify for the C final which they won in 7.01.7.
In a Durham ARC/Durham School composite J15 girls 4x+ Eve Hollowbread (DUR), Annabel Troughear (DUS), Charlotte Judson (DUS), Cherry Liu-Hill (DUR) and cox Hana Anderton (DUR) finished 14th of 41 in their time trial to go into the C final in which they were 4th in a time of 8.13.74.
Gem Anderson, Elizabeth Belsey, Iris Mitchell and Livvy Terry in the WJ16 coxless quad were 5th of 23 in the time trial and then 5th in the semi-final, to go into the B final, finishing 4th in 7.29.2.
Rachel Wilson and Izzy Maddison placed 31st of 38 in the Senior Women’s Club 2x and went on to take 3rd in the F final in 8.43.1.
Monday
On the final day racing took place over a shorter course of 1000 metres.
In the J15 1x Sam Hancill was 34th of 76 in the time trial to qualify for the F final in which he was 4th in 4.07.07.
Will Tew and Luigi Fortis had the misfortune to finish 37th of the 65 entries in the time trial and missed out on qualification for the finals by 0.2 sec.
Archie Garland, Adrian De Lucas, Hamish Mitchell, Daniel McConway and cox William Hulse achieved the best result of the day by recording the 15th fastest time of the 37 entries in the J14 4x+, to go into the C final which they won in 3.35.03.
List of results
- J18 1x Aidan Lawlor 3rd in B final (9th overall)
- J18 1x Patrick Lakey 40th overall
- WJ18 2x Seren Williams and Charlotte Foster 4th in E final (28th overall)
- WJ16 1x Livvy Terry 1st in E final (25th overall)
- WJ16 1x Iris Mitchell 5th in E final (29th overall)
- WJ18 2- Izzy Maddison and Sophie Hooper (DUS) 6th in B final (12th overall)
- WJ18 1x Seren Williams 2nd in E final (26th overall)
- J16 1x Aidan Lawlor 1st in A final (1st overall)
- J16 1x Matthew Wheeler 38th overall
- Mixed Championship 8+ Harry Tolmie, Luke Davison and composite + cox Stef Burgess 3rd in A final (3rd overall)
- WJ16 2x Sascha Wang (DUR) and Scarlett Wilkinson (INF) 6th in A final (6th overall)
- J15 4x+ Luigi Fortis, Sam Hancill, Hunor Pinter, Will Tew and cox Scarlett Nicholson 1st in C final (13th overall)
- WJ15 4x+ (DUR/DUS) Eve Hollowbread (DUR), A. Troughear (DUS), C. Judson (DUS), Cherry Liu-Hill (DUR) and cox Hana Anderton (DUR) 4th in C final (16th overall)
- WJ16 4x- Gem Anderson, Elizabeth Belsey, Iris Mitchell and Livvy Terry 4th in B final (10th overall)
- Women’s Club 2x Rachel Wilson and Izzy Maddison 3rd in F final (33rd overall)
- J15 1x Sam Hancill 4th in F final (34th overall)
- J15 2x Will Tew and Luigi Fortis 37th overall
- J14 4x+ Archie Garland, Adrian De Lucas, Hamish Mitchell, Daniel McConway and cox William Hulse 1st in C final (13th overall)
Finals places
3 A finals, 3 B finals, 3 C finals, 4 E finals, 2 F finals
- A final – J16 1x Aidan Lawlor 1st
- A final – Mx Ch 8+ composite 3rd
- A final – WJ16 2x (DUR/INF) 6th
- B final – J18 1x Aidan Lawlor 3rd
- B final – WJ16 4x- 4th
- B final – WJ18 2- 6th
- C final – J14 4x+ 1st
- C final – J15 4x+ 1st
- C final – WJ15 4x+ (DUR/DUS) 4th
- E final – WJ16 1x Livvy Terry 1st
- E final – WJ18 1x Seren Williams 2nd
- E final – WJ18 2x 4th
- E final – WJ16 1x Iris Mitchell 5th
- F final – Women’s Club 2x 3rd
- F final – J15 1x Sam Hancill 4th
Results of all races can be found here.
Victor Ludorum
The Victor Ludorum points table is here.
Overall winners: The Windsor Boys’ School BC 174 points
Senior winners: Nottingham RC 90.5 points
Junior winners: The Windsor Boys’ School BC 174 points
Durham ARC was 55th in the Overall Victor Ludorum (15 points), 29th in Senior events (5 points) and 51st in Junior events (10 points).
Photos by Allmarkone are available here.
Photo: Allmarkone