WALTHAM FOREST upset the odds to win a rowing silver medal at the London Youth Games Water Regatta on Saturday.

The water regatta consists of rowing, kayaking and sailing and Waltham Forest were able to enter a rowing team for the first time in around ten years.

A couple of years ago, the council trained five volunteers to level one standard in indoor rowing and as a result, from April last year Waltham Forest agreed to run indoor rowing training in preparation for last year’s London Youth Games, where the borough finished a record high of seventh place.

Training started again in January and between ten and 20 youngsters turned up every week to train at the Leyton Lagoon.

The council agreed to put 11 of the children on courses at Lea Rowing Club so they were in a position to enter the outdoor competition for the first time in a decade.

The group went on the course in April and since then have taken part in training sessions on the River Lea so that they could practice as a team. As a result, eight of the youngsters were entered into the London Youth Games Regatta, where expectations were fairly low due to their lack of experience.

But the teams surpassed themselves with all four – a girls double, a boys double, a mixed quad and a mixed double – impressing and completing their time trials in good times.

The mixed quad of Nnecka, Natalie, Toby and George, all from Leytonstone School, completed their time trial with one of the fastest times to qualify for the final.

In the final, they got off to a fantastic start and were leading the race for the first 100m.

Despite strong comebacks from the other teams, they managed to hold off two of the teams and finish second.

The achievement was all the more impressive considering the team have only rowed together twice before.

The next challenge for the group, who have now all joined Lea Rowing Club, comes next month at the Indoor London Youth Games Championships.