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News Archive:

2005
2004
December 2003
November 2003
October 2003
September 2003
August 2003
July 2003
June 2003
May 2003
April 2003
March 2003
February 2003
January 2003
2002

31 January

Important Note! Racing Licences for Inverness 8s and Small Boats Head: A reminder of the notice from the Race Control Convenor published on 25th January (scroll down to re-read): it takes 2 weeks to turn round a licence application. Inverness Head (always one of the biggest) is 2 weeks tomorrow - so if you think you even MIGHT end up racing you need to get your licence application off through your club right away. Otherwise you could be one of the first to suffer the new fines for racing without a licence - Ouch!!

NEW!! Start order for tomorrow's Western Head on the Clyde: apparently the organisers have taken advice and conditions look good for the race.

Rowers take indoor medals: a retrospective on last Sunday's indoor championships in the Highland News. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find any other press write-ups about clubs' successes at the event. Anybody else able to point me at them?

Rowing Instructor Certificate (RIC): Callum Macdonald (SARA Development Officer) has just published details of his first coaching course, at RIC level, to be held over the weekends 8-9 March and 15-16 March at the National Rowing Academy. Callum points out that assistance with the cost of such courses can be sought from your local authority sports development section. Full details and the course application form are available as downloads.

29 January

Keep the Scottish Rowing Awards nominations coming! Nominations close on 9th February - this is your chance to recognise the achievements or hard work of someone you respect in the sport. Here are links to the background info and rules - but in truth you can probably cut straight to the chase by either going to the on-line nomination form or by downloading the Word version for postal nominations.

Changed times at Strathclyde Park: as daylight extends (honest!), the booking hours for boats at Strathclyde Park are shifting also. The first booking slot has so far started at 0930: this now changes to 0800 each day.

28 January

Report and Pix from the SARA Indoor Championships: as promised, and with thanks to those who sent me photographs. Do allow a few moments for the page of photos to download.

27 January

Results from SARA Open Indoor Rowing Championships: apologies for the delay in getting these up (now complete with 500m split times). Combination of an unfamiliar database and 'life getting in the way of rowing'! Still looking for photos from the event . . . please do e-mail me any you are happy to share.

26 January

SARA Indoor Champs - send me your photos! Great atmosphere at Sunday's SARA Indoor Rowing Championships at the David Lloyd Centre in Renfrew. Huge thanks to them, and especially to Concept 2's traveling event team of Simon and Ben. Superb presentation, guys.

I'm working through the race results which will bring up full stats with 500m splits. But it will take until into Monday to get this lot ready for the web.

Meantime SEND ME YOUR PICTURES FROM THE EVENT. If you have editing software to keep the file sizes sensible, crop your pics for best content, then save at 400 pixel width and 72 dpi before sending as JPGs (if you take/scan pics, you'll know what I mean!). I may even be able to drop your (photographer-credited of course) pics into the results files to which they relate.

25 January

Official Notice re Racing Licences. This from Sandy Walker, the Race Control Convenor: "The new licence arrangements go live this weekend and new and replacement licences for 2003 will be available to accredited club representatives, who have been previously advised to the Convenor of Racing Control, at the SARA Indoor Rowing Championships on Sunday afternoon. The new system will replace the previous blue card and will be broadly similar to the ARA arrangements.

Competitors are reminded that with the new season almost upon us a minimum of 2 weeks is required to turn round applications from one point source in each club. The SARA AGM decreed that anyone competing without a valid licence is liable to a surcharge of doubling the appropriate licence fee. Clubs can use the download on this web site for the licence application form or return last years licence card duly completed when making a submission to the Convenor of Racing Control.

Applicants should therefore get their forms sent in ASAP before entering a regatta, as an application coincident with a regatta entry will be too late."

24 January

3-times World Lightweight Sculling Champion Peter Haining (stroke), here racing in the coxless pair with Martin Harris in Peter's last major 2002 regatta appearance in Britain at Henley Royal Regatta. (Photo Martin Worth)

Haining was World Champion in lightweight single sculls in 1993, 1994 and 1995. When I spoke to him this morning, however, he quipped that "People always forget the 10 years I spent getting my backside whipped before I actually won anything!"

This is, perhaps, slightly disingenuous. In reality Peter had already won 3 silver medals at the World Rowing Championships - two in the lightweight coxless four and one in the lightweight coxless pair - before switching to the single and striking gold. His most recent World Championships medal was another silver in lightweight coxless pairs, again with crew mate Nick Strange, in 1998. They missed gold by just 0.3 of a second.

Haining, now 40, started his rowing career at Loch Lomond ARC. He made a welcome return to competition in Scotland this year, winning men's coxless pairs with another Thames-based Scot, Martin Harris. Whilst Scots may have hoped Haining would be available for the Commonwealth team, GB had other plans and Haining had one final outing in the GB lightweight eight at the World Rowing Championships in 2002.

Whatever the future holds for Peter, he leaves a legacy which will stand as a challenge and inspiration to any young aspirant in the sport.

22 January

SARA Open Indoor Rowing Championships: the text of the full programme, with competitors' names, times of races and instructions for competitors on the day, is now up. Note for prospective Scotland Team Members: there will be a mailbox at the competitor registration point on Sunday for anyone wanting to hand in a Team Registration Form.

Hiring of SARA Boat Fleet: there have been some changes to the rules for hiring at the Park- and to the guidelines affecting hires which would take boats away from Strathclyde Park.

Glasgow University BC former members: GUBC are updating their records. If you were a GUBC member at some stage and haven't received any 'news updates' from them recently (i.e. think you may have got overlooked!), they would be grateful if you could fill in the form on their web site so that the contact can be renewed.

20 January

Late News: SARA Indoor Rowing Championships race order. Full race schedule for Sunday's championships is now up. Must surely rank as the biggest indoor rowing event yet in Scotland - unless (tempting fate) somebody knows different? It's the full Concept indoor rowing event presentation, so even if you didn't enter, it's worth turning up as a spectator (event details).

The Scottish Rowing Awards - you can make your nominations on line from today! Nominations for the Scottish Rowing Awards - which recognise excellence or endeavour in the sport in the 2002 competitive year - are invited from both individuals and clubs. This is your chance to nominate people you admire in Scottish Rowing for some deserved recognition. There are junior, senior, male and female classes for competitors. There are also awards for coaches and for 'volunteers'

Follow this link to the section of the SARA web site dedicated to the awards (includes the classes of awards, rules, online nominations, downloadable postal nomination forms, etc). Ticket sales information for the awards dinner/dance on 4th April will come out within the next week.

19 January

Scotland Team selection policy: a reminder that all athletes and coaches aspiring to membership of the Scotland team in 2003 must return the registration form in the Selection Policy document to team manager Tom Baker by 31 January. Any eligible athletes from outside Scotland who have been unable to enter the SARA Indoor Rowing Championships on 26 January MUST, in addition to their registration form, provide a 2000m ergo time, witnessed by a coach, to the team manager (also by 31 January).

New Multi-Lane Umpires: following the seminar last weekend and examinations this weekend, Scotland has 3 newly-qualified multi-lane umpires - Gary Bain , Terry McNeill and George West.

Rowing Action: the next issue of Rowing Action is due out shortly. Ailie Ord needs to know ASAP about articles, letters,club news, photos etc which you plan to send her (all welcome!) with final date for submission being 22nd January.

SARA Indoor Rowing Championships: around 240 entries have been received. The full draw/race schedule will hopefully be published here sometime on Monday.

17 January

Contacts update: new contacts for Castle Semple RC - see contacts page

Wanted: Durham Uni are in the market for a 4+ if anyone out there is looking to sell

A small triumph: a member of a Scottish club recently advertised an ergo for sale on three well-known UK rowing-related web sites, including this one. It sold within 48 hours to a buyer who saw it first on this SARA site.

15 January

SARA Half-Year General Meeting to take 'Workshop' format. The SARA Executive plans to change the format of the half-yearly (official Notice of Meeting here) at the National Rowing Academy on Sunday 23rd March: less formal business, more discussion and debate. Through the web site they would like to gauge club and club-member views on the value/relevance of a number of topics which could be featured in the programme, including:

• Sprint Season - The Way Forward?
• Why and how should we host international events?
• How to be effective in Junior/School recruitment and retention
• Scottish Rowing - a safe sporting environment?
• What's to be done to gain more publicity?
• What my club wants from the SARA.
• Some other currently important topic (please specify)

The final decision as to which topics will be programmed at the event will be influenced by responses received to this survey through the web site. Replies to the event planner, SARA vice president Mike Haggerty.

14 January

New Sales & Wants: the Scotland team has a 'sale' of some surplus team kit from the Home International/Commonwealths in summer 2002, and there is also an ergo newly appeared for sale.

Service interruption: apologies for the absence of a web site this morning. Our host's server connection went down.

13 January

SARA Indoor Championships entry deadline approaches: entries close this Friday 17th January, and with gold, silver and bronze medals in each of the 56 event classes (Junior 10 right up to Vet H, age 70+), that's 168 medals looking for deserving homes to go to (poster, programme, entry form). The event is being staged in partnership with Concept 2 and the host venue, David Lloyd Centre at Renfrew, so the competitive atmosphere of the Championships should bear no relationship to the lonely business of the 2K ergo test 'back at the club'.

New threat to Edinburgh Rowing? Scotland's water is not, after all, for sale - merely "To Let", if this board standing in the Union Canal yesterday is to be believed. Am I imagining things, or is there a well known member of a certain Edinburgh club on the management of this company which appears to be so cruelly seeking to threaten the very future of our sport in the nation's capital?!

10 January

Ice slowly melts: the Dee and the Clyde are both now reported free of ice (and the Caledonian Canal was never affected). The Union Canal, having started to thaw, froze solid again last night (thanks for update, Jim). Strathclyde Park is still reported well frozen.

9 January

Clydesdale contacts update: see the contacts page for details for Clydesdale's president, Ken Diamond, and captain, Murray Wade

7 January 2003

Breaking the ice? I know the Union Canal (Edinburgh), River Dee (Aberdeen) and Strathclyde Park are all unrowable due to ice. The Caledonian Canal (Inverness) is definitely still open. Anybody got any updates on how other Scottish rowing venues are currently affected by the big freeze? Do let me know and I'll pass it on.

Boathouse Fitness Club Newsletter: the Boathouse team at the National Rowing Academy have produced a 4-page members' newsletter about their facilities, session plans, etc. Makes interesting reading - especially when you remember how important the continuing success of the club is to the wider SARA financial plans. The best contact for anything you want to know about the gym is Kevin Watson, the fitness team leader

6 January

McArthur safe after car crash: Scotland coach John McArthur was injured in an accident involving several vehicles on the M74 yesterday. He has a broken collar bone and a chipped pelvis, but has been discharged from hospital to convalesce at home. He has been told he can expect to make a full recovery. John anticipates being off work for a few weeks, but having spoken to him on the phone I can vouch that he is in good spirits. He asked me to convey a message: "Tell the athletes to keep bl**dy training!".

Western Eights Head: First competitive event on the water in 2003. The full poster/events offered/entry form/rules (combined in one Word document) are here.

On this first day back after the long holiday, a reprise of some important news items from over the break.

The Scotland Rowing Team Selection Policy for 2003 is now here in MS Word format. Note that the first qualifying event is the Indoor Championships in Renfrew on 26 January, entries close 17 January.

SARA Open Indoor Championships (26 January): the poster, programme and entry form have all been on line since before Christmas

Rules of the Clyde: an updated set of rules, now adopted by all the rowing users of the Clyde. So before you go training for the Western Head (or whatever!), read up on how to stay safe on the river. Permanent copy on the downloads page (and if any other rowing locations in Scotland have similar all-user agreed rules, I'd be delighted to publish them also)

1 January 2003

Happy New Year everybody! Wishing you Peace, and the Performances you hope for in 2003. Terry

Scottish Rowing Awards Dinner
& Dance

Friday 4th April 2003

NEW!!! Tickets now on sale: link to poster

Reception, Dinner, Awards Ceremony & Live Ceilidh Band,
all in the baronial splendour of the Elphinstone Hall, Aberdeen University

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