Some of Enniskillen's rowing alumni raced in the Women's Head of the River in London at the weekend - which all round marked an action-packed few days on the River Thames for young oarsmen and women from Fermanagh.

One of the top local honours went to Leonora Kennedy and her crew, Imperial College boat club, who finished 16 seconds ahead of second place overall in the Women's Head on Saturday (March 9).

Leonora - who is supported by the Mary Peters Trust - stroked the crew, which won for the first time, while other local oarswomen to compete were Madeleine Kelly, who rowed for Thames, and Jill Thornton represented Queen's University, Belfast. Among the many participants in the Schools' Head of the River at Putney last Thursday (two days prior to the Women's Head) were crews from the boat club at Portora - which on the previous Saturday won the Top Junior Club at the Erne Head of the River in Enniskillen.

Two boys crews and four girls crews competed for Portora in a race which saw over 300 hundred boats from across the UK time trial down 6.8km of the Thames.

The boys J16 8 were the first crew home for Portora and they set the standard for the Enniskillen club. Stroked by Ewan Murray, powered by Karl Anderson, Tom Mills, Josh Kennedy, Barney Rix, Alistair Crawford, Chris Irvine, Jamie Gibson and coxed by Evan McClean, this boys' crew went into the race knowing they had the potential to get a good result.

They were against some of the top schools in England, where student populations are much bigger, thus offering a greater pool of athletes.

The fact that they came out of the race sitting in fourth place in their category will be a great boost to the boys, showing that with hard work and determination, they can compete with larger clubs and still come out on top. In the overall rankings, they finished 36th overall, which is a big achievement for the Boat Club.

The girls in the J16 8 did not let the side down either. The crew, made up of Alice Beacom, Chloe Finlayson, Emma Glover, Elizabeth Clarke, Eimer Daly, Sophie O'Dolan, Carrie McShea, Orla McConville and coxed by Zoe Donaldson stormed down the course and they too took fourth position in their group. Races like this should give them confidence against more local opposition in the coming weeks.

The boys J15 8 and the girls J15 8 B crew both came 9th within their categories, a sign that the hard work which all the athletes have put in over winter is starting to pay off. With more time on the water, these crews will certainly do damage during the summer season.

The women's J18 coxless quad, of Phoebe Mulligan, Elisha Timoney, Rachel Nixon and Dineka Maguire came 12th in their group. Though a little further down the listings than they would have liked, this is a speedy crew, who were perhaps only bested because of the other crew's knowledge of the Thames.

The girls J15 8 A crew were to be disappointed when they couldn't race because of an equipment problem, but in sport, as the saying goes, it is not how we handle victory, but defeat, which is important.

With lots of racing to look forward to in the coming weeks, the girls will no doubt bounce back to show themselves, and the rest of the club, just what they could have achieved in London.

Overall, it was a successful trip to London Schools' Head. The promising results achieved should spur on the athletes at Portora Boat Club to keep training hard, and to show the younger members of the club that if they put in that same effort, they could be challenging schools across the water next year as well.