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22 September

Mandy Towrie - an Appreciation - by Ailie Ord: Judging by the number of people who attending the funeral of Mandy Towrie on 29th June this year, and by the pile of letters and cards received by her husband Tom on her passing, Mandy was much loved and respected by a very large spectrum people from all aspects of her life.

She started her rowing career while at Paisley College, was a member of the newly formed Castle Semple Rowing Club, then Glasgow Rowing Club, Clydesdale ARC and then of course Inverness Rowing Club. Everywhere she went Mandy made new friends, many of them life-long, and she brought a sense of fun into everything she did. This included her rowing training, which she also took very seriously and she quickly became one of Scotland's top scullers and oarswomen.

She was a member of the first Scottish Women's crew to win a National Championships medal in 1984 and shared in the grief of her crew mates that it was only silver and not the coveted gold which was lost by the smallest of margins. In 1986 she represented Scotland in the Commonwealth Games in the Double Scull and I know was very proud to have done so.

As well as being very talented in the boat, Mandy was an excellent coach. She had a wonderful way of explaining things and spotting the little things that weren't quite going right. She helped get Inverness Rowing Club on its feet both by rowing and coaching. She coached and nurtured Cathy Mordaunt, a talented lightweight sculler, to scull at the highest level and gain her Scottish One-piece - I think the first for Inverness.

Mandy competed at a number of World Masters Events and won her first medal in Vienna in 1993 in a coxed four. The following year she travelled to Gronigan, Holland and was again successful in the Coxed Four. She then had a bit of a break, and Sophie was born, before travelling to Seville in 1999 where once again she was victorious in the Coxed Four. Vichy 2003 was next and by then Mandy was rowing in a very successful partnership with Susanne Hunter who had moved to Scotland from Zimbabwe. Having already secured the Henley Veterans title in Women's Vet C Double Sculls they went on to win at Vichy in the same category. Mandy and Susanne retained their Henley Vets title the following year and gained their 3rd in 2005 rowing in a quadruple scull with Alison Hulme and me. This crew was lovely to be part of and it won Mandy her 4th World Masters Medal at Strathclyde Park later that year.

From speaking and listening to the large number of people who attended Mandy's send off she will be much missed. She had so many wonderful qualities, loved nature, was quite brilliant at arts and crafts, knitted many a cosy jumper, was full of fun and was the best wife, mother, friend and god mother anyone could have wished for.

Postscript: Tom and Sophie deeply appreciate all the messages they received from the rowing community after Mandy's passing. Tom is aware that some people could not attend the funeral and that others that did, could not be accommodated inside the hall thereby not being able to hear the ceremony. If any of these people would like a transcript of the ceremony Tom is happy to email this to them. Tom's email address is - tom.baker1@btconnect.com

18 September

SR Newsletter: The 9th edition of the Newsletter is now available.

Strathclyde Park Loch Closure: There is an open water swim (with exclusive use of the Loch) all day on Saturday 24th September from 07:00 and it may spill over onto Sunday if they don't get through their full programme in a single day. Anyone thinking of rowing at the Park on Sunday would do well to contact the Booking Office on Saturday afternoon on 01698 402060.

Clydesdale Scullers Head: The online entry system is now open for entries into the Clydesdale Scullers Head (www.myeventz.com). Please note that only online entries will be accepted and clubs are reminded to ensure they have up to date log-ins for the myeventz system in advance of entries closing on Friday 3rd October at 7pm. For information on the event please see the poster.

Coaching Course: Reminder that the closing date for the next level 2 course is the 20th September.

Seats lost at SPR: Lost at SPR before the summer holidays : 8 janousek-type wooden seats, 28cm/11 inch width (standard 4s or 8s seat). Some will have "Dundee" or "dubc" written underneath. Last seen middle of Sunday afternoon at Strathclyde Park/Scottish universities regatta. DUBC were next to boats being dismantled by GUBC, Clyde/Clydesdale, and loading a trailer next to Heriots - and the boxes have been lost somewhere between these locations. If anyone has inadvertently picked up these seats please contact Robin Dickinson.

17 September

World Rowing Masters Regatta 2011 - Poznan, Poland - Results Report: Report from Roy Sinclair:
Last weekend in variable and sometimes difficult tailwind conditions, Masters oarsmen and oarswomen from many clubs throughout the length and breadth of Scotland took part in a wide variety of rowing and sculling events at this year's annual FISA World Rowing Masters Regatta on the 2009 world championships rowing course on the Malta Lake in Poznan.

Most successful Scottish club athlete at this year's event was Ailie Ord from Strathclyde Park RC with four gold medals. She won her first gold as a member of a composite crew alongside members of the Barnes Bridge RC in the women's category C eights event on Friday over two seconds ahead of the second placed international composite crew from Kalev SK/Riga Rowers Club/SK Parnu. Later on Friday in company with her sculling crewmate Gill Prescott from Durham ARC, Ailie claimed her second gold in the women's category C double sculls event, winning by just over one second ahead of a German crew from Münchener RSV Bayern. In calmer, sunny conditions on Saturday, Ailie and Gill again combined well to clinch gold, this time in the women's category D double sculls by an impressive 6 seconds ahead of another German crew from Potsdamer RG/RC Havel Brandenburg.

On a sunny Sunday morning in the mixed events, Gill with Gordon Kerr from Nithsdale ARC as her sculling partner in the category E double sculls event claimed gold by one second ahead of a Lithuanian crew from the Vilnius Zalgiris club with a determined finishing burst after being in second place at the half way mark. Both Gill and Gordon were later joined by Ailie and Gordon's son Steven from St Andrew BC in the category D quadruple sculls event to lead for the complete race and secure their gold medals by almost four seconds ahead of the second placed German composite crew from Erster Kieler RC/Germania RV Eutin/Nord Schleswigscher.

A substantial number of other Scottish athletes also took part in the variety of events offered with many challenging well for the top places in their chosen events, some narrowly missing out on gold medals.

Some photographs from the event are now posted in the Inverness RC website gallery.

9 September

Scottish Rowing Annual Awards and Awards Dinner 2011: The rowing season is coming to an end, and already the prospect of looking to the 2011 Scottish Rowing Annual Awards looms ahead. This is where we celebrate these who have made a significant contribution towards Scottish Rowing, and whom we feel deserve a wider recognition amongst not only the rowing community, but to the public in general. Full details of the Awards procedure and eligibility are available on the Scottish Rowing Awards Procedure. Nominations should be made on the form.

Trailer Run - ES Rowing: Eric Sims will be running a trailer to pick up boats for repair the latter end of week beginning 26th September. If any club would like quotes, boats repaired or spares they can contact Eric on 07774980811, for spares, ring the office on 01628 666255.

BOA - London 2012 Ticketshare : Calling all Rowing Clubs - don't let your deserving young rowers miss out!
The British Olympic Association (BOA) is teaming up with the National Governing Bodies of sport to offer young adults (18-26 years) the chance to attend an Olympic Games event for free. This is in conjunction with the London 2012 Ticketshare scheme, and for a lucky few their visit will be in the company of a British Olympian. Along with other NGBs, British Rowing will be granted an allocation of tickets (up to and no more than 100) for registered members of British Rowing, Scottish Rowing and Welsh Rowing, aged 18 - 26 years. The tickets will be available across the full spread of sports at the Summer Games. Young people who are chosen to go will be put into groups of 4, 5 or 6 young adults. You can read all about London 2012 Ticketshare at www.london2012.com/visiting/tickets/ticketshare.

These free tickets are funded through a levy on London 2012 Prestige Ticketing hospitality packages, and the BOA is asking for our clubs' help to ensure that tickets go to deserving young people in our sport. In using their element of the Ticketshare scheme the BOA aims to inspire young adults to pursue their sporting ambitions. Read more about how to nominate a young person from your club and download an application form.

Sporting Awards : It's awards season at sportscotland, who are committed to recognising sporting greats across Scotland from inspirational coaches to schools going the distance to develop sporting opportunities for their young people. There are a number of ways you can nominate:

Sunday Mail and sportscotland Scottish Sports Awards
The Sunday Mail and sportscotland Scottish Sports Awards aim to recognise achievement in sport at all levels - from grassroots participation to elite sport. We support these awards because they celebrate success across the sporting system and offer us an opportunity to promote the power of sport. The categories span the whole sporting system, from schools and clubs, to managers and events. You can visit www.sundaymailsportsawards.co.uk to nominate. Nominations close 23 October.

4 September

Castle Semple Regatta Photographs: Snapper Ron drove down to the rescheduled Castle Semple Regatta on Sunday 28th August - the original date had been cancelled due to wind and the buffeting of his car on the drive south gave him a distinct déjà-vu feeling! Fortunately, Castle Semple Loch seemed to be in a (relatively) calm micro-climate and the regatta progressed without incident after an early decision was made to limit racing to 500m as the far end of the 1k course was a bit lumpy. Some photographs are published on the Committee of the Dee website. He leaves tomorrow with the (limited) Scottish squad heading to the FISA World Masters Regatta in Poznan, Poland.

Record five medal haul for Scots at World Rowing Champs: Report from Lee Boucher:
Scotland's rowers have ended the World Rowing Championships in Slovenia with a record haul of five medals, including three golds. Competing as part of the GB Rowing Team on Lake Bled, all four of the British Olympic and Paralympic crews with Scottish interest successfully qualified for London 2012.

It is now back-to-back world titles for Aberdeen's Katherine Grainger and her partner Anna Watkins in the women's double scull after they powered their way to victory, cruising home in the last quarter after a strong first 1500 metres. Grainger will now look ahead to London with real optimism that she can finally win that elusive gold medal after three times finishing as runner-up. After a year away from the sport, Dunfermline's 2009 world champion in the adaptive legs, trunk and arms mixed coxed four, David Smith, was back in the boat to inspire his crew to regain their world title after missing out in New Zealand last year. The British crew stormed out of the blocks in the first 500 metres and took the title nearly 5 seconds ahead of second placed Canada.

There will be a tinge of disappointment for Britain's women's coxless pair featuring Lossiemouth's Heather Stanning and her crewmate Helen Glover after they got pipped on the line by New Zealand, the 2009 and 2010 world champions. The GB boat had enjoyed an impressive season to date taking the Samsung World Cup series following victories in both Munich and Lucerne, and they were leading the Kiwis the whole way down the course before a photo finish resulted in a New Zealand hat-trick of world titles by the narrowest of margins, 8 hundredths of a second. Following a 5th place finish in 2009 and a 4th place finish in 2010, Edinburgh's Lindsey Maguire and the British women's eight have slowly been making progress over the past couple of years in a very competitive event. With 500 metres to go in their final, the GB eight were in 5th place, but they upped their rate and their boat speed through the final quarter to first come through the Netherlands and then Romania to secure a place on the podium and a bronze medal.

Inverness-born athlete Imogen Walsh was making her GB debut at this level in the women's lightweight quadruple scull, a non-Olympic class event. But the Scot and her British crew did not show any nerves, dominating their opening heat to qualify directly for their final where they produced a masterclass in sculling to take gold ahead of the Chinese and American crews.

Said Lee Boucher, Scottish Rowing's High Performance Co-Ordinator: "From a Scottish perspective the results from Bled are extremely encouraging, especially with London 2012 on the horizon. The GB Rowing Team is certainly at the top of its game at the moment and it is encouraging to see a number of Scottish athletes contributing towards this success. As well as the successes from Slovenia, 2011 has seen record Scottish representation at world under 23 level so the future of the sport looks bright."

3 September

World Championships Blog: From Imogen Walsh:
So the biggest race of my life looms ahead of me, and I'm starting to feel pretty nervous! Having said that, I am thinking that at the end of the day, it is just a race - I need to put my blades in and out of the water at the same time as my crewmates, and try and get from the start to the finish line as quickly as possible. Simple, in theory...
There's been some great results from the GB team so far, but also some surprising ones, like the women's quad missing out on the A final, which goes to show that you can never tell how things are going to go. The only thing you can do is to think one stroke at a time, and make each one the best you possibly can.
I was surprisingly calm in the heat, and despite it being such a close race, I think the whole crew stayed really relaxed throughout. And I can honestly say that I enjoyed the whole thing! Hearing the cheers and seeing the flags (both Union Jacks and a saltire, courtesy of my dad!) as we paddled away was great - here's hoping we see the same tomorrow.

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