Whilst his club mates were preparing for and competing at Maidenhead Regatta, Phil Clapp was testing the 2008 Olympic course in Beijing, representing Great Britain at this year's Junior World Rowing Championships. The new purpose-built rowing lake is in the Shunyi district in the North-East of Beijing and, like the other Olympic facilities, is very impressive. This year the event attracted over 600 athletes in some 250 crews representing over 50 countries over 4 days from the 8th to 11th August. The GB squad this year comprised some 8 crews; Men's coxless four, eight, coxless pair, quad, single and Women's coxless four, coxless pair and single.

Maidenhead Rowing Club had two representatives in the GB team, Phil Clapp in the Men's Quad and Tom Jost, coach for the men's single. The GB Men's Quad included three of the four members of the Maidenhead/Henley crew which won Henley Royal Regatta: Phil Clapp from Maidenhead and Chris Clarke and Drew Ford from Henley, were joined by John Preston from Yarm school.

Being in China there were more challenges for the rowers than the more usual Western venues, not least of all food. As an Olympic test event it was an opportunity for both the Chinese and the competing teams to test the facilities. One of the main concerns of the teenage competitors was food, but, in fact, the GB team took along their own nutritionist and two cooks.

In the days leading up to the event, Beijing and the Shunyi course were cloaked in the now well-publicised pollution, reducing visibility to less than half a kilometre, with the sun just visible through the smog. However in their efficient way, the Chinese ensured that for the competition the skies were blue and the air clear. This also brought with it temperatures of 37-38C with little or no cooling breeze and humidity often in the 80's.

The Men's quad event was contested by 24 crews, initially competing in 4 heats, with the winner of the heats going directly through to the semi-finals, avoiding the repecharge and getting a days rest. In the heat, the Italians and Spanish crews started well and set the running to the 1500m mark, but were unable to resist a strong attack from the GB crew who rowed through them to take 1st place. The semi-finals, held on the Friday, saw the boys against France, Latvia, Italy, Japan and Czech Republic in a very close race, with nothing separating the crews to the 1000m mark. Again the GB crew made a push at 1500m to secure a place in the 'A' final.

Finals day (Saturday 11th) saw a clear sky and temperatures climbing into the high 30's by the 4:00pm start of the Quads A final between, Germany, Slovenia, France, China Latvia and GB. The Chinese set off at a blistering pace, but by the 1000m mark all the boats were overlapping. Still in touch at 1500m, the GB crew made its move, pulling up on Germany and France, but in putting the pressure on, caught a boat stopping crab, leaving no time to recover, and rowed in to 6th position.

Although the final ended disappointingly for Phil, he is young enough to aim for next year's Junior World Championships in Austria - where his aim is to compete in the single scull.