Home International Regatta 2008

THURSDAY
Athletes, coaches and officials gathered early on Thursday morning at Strathclyde Park, awaiting the team bus to take us all to Cardiff. After a minor delay due to a bodywork repair to the coach (Vice-President Ian White being on hand with the gaffa tape), we set off on the 8 hour journey south.

The junior men's contigent, mostly travelling direct from Edinburgh, not only arrived first, but had rigged their boats and been out on the course to try out the water before the bus arrived. On arrival, the Welsh team management were there to welcome us, book us into the hotel and point us in the direction of the course (a short 5 minute walk away).

FRIDAY
Friday morning brought an unexpected and extremely heavy set of rain showers, which unfortunately the men's teams had to endure at the course, while the women's teams sheltered in the hotel lobby until they had passed. The pre-race day was spent rigging up the boats, getting out on the course for some practice in sitting crews and in composite eights and quads, and painting a vast number of blades with the Scottish Saltire (some team members proving to be more adept with a paint brush than others!). The junior girls, having painted most of their oars during the previous week, instead spent the time creating mini-saltires on their fingernails!

Some of the more immoveable parts of the course were discovered the hard way, with the men's quad getting a little too close to a finish marker - Cardiff Bay 1, Sculling Blade 0. A number of uses for a snapped scull were mooted, and it was later turned into a cleaver shaped baseball bat. Fortunately, there were no further mishaps, and the Scottish team headed safely into Cardiff Bay for their dinner.

In contrast to the cold and windy conditions at Nottingham one week ago, the weather was hot and sunny, with a bit of crosswind on the course. Racing kicked off at 11am, with the Women's Junior 4-. ASRA, racing for Scotland, had won the silver medal in this event at National Championships, despite still being a J16 crew. Coming past the boating/marquee area, which is about half-way down the course, the crew were in the lead. Once out of sight, all the supporters were anxiously listening to the commentary for the final section of the race. The commentators were quiet, then we heard the Irish were pushing back, the Scots were holding on, then cheering from the Scottish contingent at the finish line, followed by commentary silence... After a nail-biting pause, the winners were announced. First victory to the Scots!

While waiting for their return, the Men's Junior 4- were on the course, Scotland being represented by a composite crew from George Watsons College, Newcastle University and Latymer Upper. Passing the pontoons they were winning, but it was a tight race. Once again we had to endure the wait as they raced the final 500m before being announced as the winners. Medals for the regatta were being presented just outside the marquee area, so before long the first "Scotland the Brave" was being played on the tannoys. The next race up was the Women's Lightweight 2-. Loughborough Students RC, winners of the silver medal at Nat Champs, representing Scotland. Coming past the marquees, they too were in the lead, heading the gold medalists from the previous weekend. The first three wins of the day to Scotland!

There was no rest for some medalists though, as the Men's Junior Pair head back up the course for their second race. As the Junior Men set off, we wondered if their victory just half an hour ago could have taken too much out of them - however, these two are made of strong stuff, and they were again in the lead as they passed the half-way point. The pair, both of whom have medals from the Coupe de la Jeunesse, kept their lead to the finish to claim Scotland's fourth medal. The Women's Junior Pair from Strathclyde Park RC also put on a great race, pushing the English pair all the way to the line to take second place.

The excellent start to the day showed in all the crews, with the Scots racing agressively in every event - racing was incredibly close, with placings continually changing down the course. From the boat area, where the team marquees were situated, competitors and supported can only listen intently to the commentary at the finish area. The Scottish support at the end of the course is second to none, with an great array of flags and banners, and it really gave crews a boost in their final bursts to the line.

Two hours into the regatta, it was time for another win - this time in the Junior Mens 1x, who made us wait for the final announcement in a very close finish with the English sculler - a win by less than half a second. The Men's Lightweight singles then came close to disaster, when a speedboat zoomed up the side of the course, creating a huge wash. Fortunately, an umpires launch was at hand, and raced over waving the red flag to stop the speedboat before the wake hit the four scullers.

The doubles were next up, and again all the crews raced hard and were in the thick of the action. Both junior doubles finished in second place, but it was the Men's Double of Colin Williamson and Alan Sinclair from Leander Club who who put Scotland on the medal podium for the sixth time, putting in a very solid performance to take the win.

The final events before the break were the Junior 4+ and Under 23 4- races. The Junior Women's race was incredibly close, with all four crews side by side as they passed the viewing platform at 500m in. Listening to the commentary, we heard the Scots were pushing hard, and after a short pause by the commentary it was confirmed that they had taken the Welsh on the line to claim second place. The Junior Men's 4+ followed them down the course looking unbeatable, in a clear lead over the rest of the field. Its was yet another win for the Junior Men, who by now had an incredible 4 wins and 1 second place in the event - Jim Ferguson, coach at George Watson's College, was seen jumping up and down in delight (helped by the news that Sean Dixon of GWC had won a silver medal at the World Junior Champs).

The U23 4- is a new event this year, replacing the senior coxed fours event. The Women's crew, who had not raced together before, rowed strongly to claim third place. The Men's crew then had a very tight race, with little to choose between 2nd to 4th places, but slipped to 4th place on the line.

Going into the break before the big boat events, Scotland had an unassailable lead in the Junior Men's match, just needing to cross the line in the quad and eight to win. The Junior Women were also leading their event, but by just one point from England and Ireland. The Senior positions were still open, with both teams aiming to avoid the wooden spoon!

The Men's Adaptive Scull race took place for the first time at this regatta, being run as a demonstration event this year, but becoming a full event for men and women in 2009. The event was won by the English sculler, over Scotland's Graeme Stewart.

Team Scotland managed a quick bonding session before racing restarted, succeeding in getting the entire team together for a photo shoot (once the Welsh interloper in the back row had been dispensed with!).

Back into the racing, the junior men just had to cross the line to take the team trophy. The eight was a close race, with the Welsh hanging on for a victory, but the Scots slipped to last place after a long day's racing. The quad almost had a disaster, breaking a blade in the closing stages of the race, but managed to keep going over the line with three men rowing, to take the vital final point - the Junior Men win the match!

The Senior Women put in good races in the quad and eight, with the eight putting in a strong push to pass the Welsh in the final third of the race, to claim a fine second place. The Senior Men's eight also rowed strongly to take third, although the major excitement in that event was a win for the Welsh team, who have never won the Men's Eights race before.

The Men's Quad need to beat the Irish to avoid last place in Men's Team event - the Irish rowed strongly but the Scots rowed stronger to take first place and draw level with the Irish in the overall event.

In the final race of the day, it was all to play for in the Junior Women's event, with Scotland one point behind England and two ahead of Ireland. The eights went off strong, but it was the Irish who pulled out a lead over England and the Scots girls had to settle for joint 2nd place in the overall match.

The full results, with placings, times and team points, has been published.

It was an excellent day of racing, and the Welsh ARA and Cardiff Harbour Authority put on a very well organised event which they should be congratulated for. At the end of racing, Scotland was in 2nd place on points overall, with 8 wins and 7 second places. Congratulations to everyone who raced, their coaches and the team officials and a huge thank you to everyone who travelled all the way to Cardiff to support the Scottish Rowing Team.

Photographs courtesy of Robin Collings and Roy Sinclair.