FOREST rower Katie Kearsey made a splash at London Docklands when she raced to two wins as part of the England Home Countries Regatta team.

The Coleford-raised former Monmouth Comprehensive School Boat club captain, who competed for Wales as a junior, raced to victory over 2km in her coxed four and then took out the women’s 8s sprints.

She was joined on the lake by current school rowers Peaches Hale and Violet Holbrow-Brooksbank, alongside Monmouth School for Girls’ Ellie Emes and Elina Wright, who were all part of the Welsh team.

And Monmouth School for Boys pupils Henry Fraser, Ethan Chick and Alfie Winter were also in action for Wales.

Racing with her club mates from Nottingham University, Katie, who won pairs silver at the recent British Universities Championships, led from the off in the 2,000m fours race.

They had nearly a length over Scotland in second at 500m, with Ireland third, and Wales, including 2019 GB world junior cap Angharad Broughton, fourth.

With no further change in the order, the lead was more than 2L at half-way and 3L with 500m to go, a margin they held to the line reached in 8mins 9secs.

Then later in the sprint 8s, Katie’s England 8 again raced away with it, with Wales this time, stroked by 2019 GB senior world championships sculler Ruth Siddorn, placing second, Scotland third and Ireland fourth.

Peaches and Violet came third in their junior girls double sculls race in 9.20, with Scotland the winners, followed by England and Ireland bringing up the rear.

The duo then teamed up with Shiplake College’s Megan Hadfield, whose US college champion brother Iwan rowed at Monmouth School for Boys, and Great Marlow Schools’ Emily Downing to race the girls’ quads.

This time they placed fourth, some 4L behind Ireland in third, with England taking the win from Scotland.

But in the sprint at the end of the regatta, they got the better of the Irish to take third, with the same two first and second.

Ellie and Elina placed fourth in the junior girls’ coxed four and eight 2km in races won by England, and fourth in the sprint, where the English again triumphed.

The boys’ trio won the British junior coxless fours title in Hereford RC colours the previous weekend, but couldn’t repeat it with new Royal Shrewsbury crew member Staden George, as they finished 3L behind winners Scotland in fourth.

Coxed by Monmouth School’s Ben Jennery, they also placed fourth in the junior men’s 8 in 6.43, a length behind the third-placed Scots, with Ireland winning some 4L up.

They were also fourth in the sprint, where England took the win from the Scots, with the Irish relegated to third.Cox Ben also placed fourth in the junior men’s fours, crossing in 7.49.

Wales struggled to get on the podium all day, but then amazingly won the biggest prize of all, the 2km Blue Riband men’s 8s for only the third time in the history of the 60-year-old regatta, racing home in 6.21 over a length clear of England in second.

Full results at rowresults.co.uk/hir22 .