OKEHAMPTON College student and West Country rower Phoebe Muir won the British Junior Rowing Championship title in the women’s Junior Single Scull event at the National Watersports Centre, Nottingham.

Phoebe, aged 15 and who lives on Dartmoor, won the title just three years after learning to row at Exeter Rowing Club.   Having rowed successfully in regattas across the region she represented the South West in April as part of a gold medal winning crew in the double scull competition at the Junior Inter Regional Competition.

The Junior British Rowing Championships was a test of nerve, as her first major championship in a single scull, having mainly competed in double sculls with a partner. After a testing time trial in windy conditions on the 2,000 metre lake in Nottingham.

Phoebe won both her semi final and final comfortably. 

An additional challenge for Phoebe was having to quickly get used to a much lighter racing boat loaned on a ‘one off basis’ for the championships.

The club boat she uses is old and much heavier than most competitors. Phoebe says with a smile that it is ‘A bit vintage, but not in a good way.’

Phoebe’s coach Dave Brooks has coached at clubs across the UK. He was the original club coach for gold medal winning rowers at the 2010 under 23 World Championships. 

Dave Brooks said: ‘Phoebe really deserves this success.  She loves the sport, works hard and encourages and supports other juniors. We see that she has the potential to compete at the very highest levels but we have had to scrabble about to get a loan of a racing boat for this championship!’