Golden
girls.
The Scotland women's junior coxless four who won gold last weekend
at the Home International Regatta in Cork.
From left to right (which is also bow to stroke) Alex Wessel (Aberdeen
Schools), Alex Gemie (Nithsdale), Morag Emslie (Aberdeen Schools)
and Anna Anderson (Nithsdale). (photo courtesy Mansour Gemie)
28 July
Heriots threat
to 'Auld Alliance'? George Heriots School made a decisive
contribution to Great Britain's third consecutive win in the Franco-British
rowing match at Nottingham on Saturday. The match is contested annually
between the selected under 16 crews from each nation in 1x, 2x,
4-, 4x and 8 for girls and the same events for boys with the addition
of 4+ and 2x.
The Heriots crew of Emma Guy, Karina Williams, Stephanie McDowall
and Gemma Lumsden - already the National Champions of Great Britain
at both J 16 and J18 levels - took an early lead and, although the
ever-present Nottingham headwind put paid to any record time aspirations,
romped home 24 seconds ahead of their French opponents.
The British girls team won their match 4-1, the French boys won
4-3, leaving GB as overall winners 7-5. This was the 24th staging
of this challenge: France won the first 21 matches, with Britain
winning the last 3 on the trot.
Shaw performs at U23 Worlds: I haven't been able
to find any reports from the World Under 23 Rowing Championships
in Belgrade - even the official
results site is pretty hard to decipher (waft your cursor between
the horizontal lines on the page to find ghostly grey links to the
individual days' results!). In a field of 23 scullers in lightweight
single sculls, Gavin Shaw came 4th in Friday's heat behind Germany,
Turkey and Hong Kong. In Saturday's repechage he finished 2nd behind
Australia - then 5th in Sunday's semi-final, this time behind France,
Turkey, Spain and Austria. This put Gavin in the B final, where
he finished 4th (ie 10th overall in the competition) behind Germany,
Belgium and New Zealand.
Let the Sprints begin! Yes, that time of year
is fast coming round again. First up this year is the Inverness
Hawco Sprint on Saturday 23rd August, with a full spread of fours,
pairs, doubles and singles events from J14 to Veteran. In addition
to the poster, rules
and entry forms are also
here.
23 July
Good luck
to the Scottish team! The Scottish rowing team leaves on
Thursday for the Home International, which this year is being hosted
by Ireland at Inniscara Lake near Cork. As Mike Haggerty reported
in the Herald on Monday, Scottish club crews did particularly well
at the National Rowing Championships this year so, with luck, we
can look forward to some good performances. Good luck, guys.
Thinking of buying a single scull? Nice one newly
appeared on the Sales & Wants page.
Advance notice of SARA AGM: the annual general
meeting of the Scottish Amateur Rowing Association will take place
at 1.00pm on Sunday 2nd November. Picking up on the 'discussion'
format of the half yearly, the Executive are inviting clubs to submit
questions or topic suggestions to the secretary, Paul
Mackie, in advance of the meeting - though that old stalwart
of meeting agendas 'AOCB' will still be there for afterthoughts.
22 July
Caitie
Gorton, Fiona Struthers, Louise Kelly and Amanda Hinds of
Clyde and Clydesdale: National Champions of Great Britain
in women's quadruple sculls.
Colin Wallace,
Ross Cruickshank, Kerr Neave, Michael Anderson & cox Jamie
Steel of Aberdeen Schools, National Champions of Great Britain
in junior men's coxed fours. With Ben Ramsden in place of
Kerr Neave, they also won junior coxless fours, while Cruickshank
and Wallace took silver in junior coxless pairs.
At this
early stage it was a Scots 1, 2, 3 in women's junior coxless
fours. At the line, however, it was George Heriots School
(Emma Guy, Karina Williams, Stephanie McDowall and Gemma Lumsden)
who were crowned National Champions of Great Britain, with
Nithsdale taking silver and Aberdeen Schools being edged into
4th .
Alastair
Warnock of Glasgow RC showing full extension at the placement
on his way to silver in men's single sculls
Nat Champs photo gallery: as promised, some photos,
courtesy of Andy Dunn (Castle Semple RC), of some of Scotland's
successes at last weekend's National Rowing Championships of Great
Britain at Strathclyde Park.
Preparation going well for Shaw: word from national
coach John McArthur that Gavin Shaw's preparations in Hazewinkel
for his race for GB in the World Under 23 Rowing Championships have
been going well. The low-30s temperatures have been good acclimatisation
as Shaw heads on to Belgrade for this weekend's racing - in which
he faces 20 nations, which means heats starting on Friday.
Great photos Andy! Some excellent photos from
the National Rowing Championships of Great Britain have come in
from Andy Dunn. I'm up to my eyes at work but will try to publish
them tonight. If anyone else has goodies they'd be prepared to share,
please do e-mail
them to me
16 July
Traffic update
on routes to Strathclyde Park: I hear from Scotland's rowing
development officer based at Strathclyde Park, Callum Macdonald,
that the cones and queues have been on the move. The info from Callum
and others (thanks Fraser, Katy, Peter, et al) is
Traffic from the south (M74): resurfacing south if J6 (the turn
off to Strathclyde Park) is causing delays. No real alternative
route.
Traffic from Edinburgh: best to come through Motherwell or,
if using the Bellshill by-pass, to enter the Park at Raith Interchange
(north end).
Traffic from North: M74 restricted width from J5 south. Recommend
visitors leave the motorway at J5 and take the road round within
the Park, past the funfair.
In general terms, it looks like a case of 'allow extra time'.
Nat Champs on the Web: there will not be detailed
coverage of this year's National Rowing Championships on the SARA
web site. The event is in Scotland, so hopefully the Scottish rowing
community will be there to watch! For anyone who really can't get
to the event, however, Rachel
Quarrell will be doing live commentary on the web for The Rowing
Service during the finals on Sunday.
New Sales and Wants: check the sales
and wants page for some new additions
13 July
Inverness
winners at Henley Veterans' Regatta: Mandy Towrie and Susanne
Hunter of Inverness RC beat Cambridge (USA) in yesterday's final
of women's veteran C double sculls - by half a length. It was almost
an Inverness double win: Vet D pair of Tom Baker and Brian Bell
were leading UK Masters champions from Greenbank Falmouth with 5
metres to go - but then hit the booms and crashed out of contention.
Both Inverness crews will be off to do it all again at the FISA\World
Masters Regatta in Vichy later in the summer.
12 July
Heriots power
through to GB selection: at today's race-off for places
in the GB team for the Franco-British J 16 match, George Heriots
School came out tops in the girls fours, wining by over 3 lengths.
Congratulations to the Heriots crew of Emma Guy, Karina Williams,
Stephanie McDowall and Gemma Lumsden who will now represent Great
Britain in the coxless four. Congratulations also to the Heriots
coaching team of Bob Neil, Jim Wilkinson and Nick Rankin.
Don't be late for Nat Champs! A bit of advance
warning that there are roadworks on the M73/M74/M8 interchange causing
long tailbacks at peak times. Traffic from the south (i.e. coming
north on the M74) or coming across from Hamilton is generally OK.
But anything coming by the main routes from the Glasgow, Edinburgh
or Stirling directions should be prepared for delays and allow extra
time.
11 July
National Rowing
Championships of Great Britain draw
now up: the full provisional draw and race timetable is
now up. The total entry is 674 crews or 1603 competitors, an increase
on the last time the championships was held in Scotland. Racing
starts at 0830 next Friday, with around 100 races per day on Friday
and Saturday. Finals day, Sunday starts at 0930.
10 July
Heriots in
race for GB selection: a George Heriots' School women's
J16 4+ is today heading south for the final race-off on Saturday
for the right to represent Great Britain in the annual Franco-British
match.
Winter sun rowing adventure? Try this! How about
a regatta in Martinique in November? A really attractive colour
PDF information leaflet for
you to download, together with the entry
form. Did I REALLY see an offer of free accommodation and boat
loan?!
Racking arrangements for Nat Champs: advance information
from Strathclyde Park that additional small boat racking for 1x
and 2x/- will be erected in the car park area behind the National
Rowing Academy. This means that the permanent racking in front of
the centre will be for larger boats only.
Racing starts tomorrow at Lucerne: the BearingPoint
FISA World Cup regatta gets under way on the Rotsee at Lucerne tomorrow.
The special interest for Scots will be to see how Katherine Grainger
and her partner Cath Bishop can do in the W 2- (they got silver
in Munich and gold in Milan - but the field is getting larger and
more competitive as the season progresses). No Pinsent and Cracknell
this time: they're back in training following the competition at
Henley. You can follow racing on the FISA
race tracker.
c
4 July
Shaw to race
U23 1x for GB: Following performances in the 4- at Essen,
in training and in his 1x at Scottish Championships - where Shaw
bettered his personal best by 5 seconds - Gavin Shaw has been selected
to represent Great Britain in the lightweight single scull at the
Under 23 World Rowing Championships in Belgrade. Gavin is currently
in full-time training at the National Rowing Academy, Strathclyde
Park under his coach, John McArthur. They leave early next week
for team preparation at Hazewinkel before traveling on to Belgrade.
Glasgow University miss out in Temple: racing
yesterday evening, Glasgow University (Scotland's last remaining
crew at Henley Royal Regatta) lost by 1 1/2 lengths to Imperial
College 'A'.
Don't miss the Nat Champs entry deadline! This
weekend is pretty much last chance to get your entries in for the
National Rowing Championships
of Great Britain at Strathclyde Park on 18-20 July. Junior heats
start on the Friday, senior heats on the Saturday, and it's a rare
opportunity to race in Scotland at a regatta where all events are
over 2000m and with a repechage system - oh, and the chance of being
crowned National Champion of Great Britain at the end of it. Entries
(there is a full on-line
entry system) close 10.00 am on Tuesday 8th July
3 July
Watson's battle
hard, but Tiffin/Walton pull through: George Watson's led
Tiffin School and Walton RC to both the Barrier and Fawley in the
Fawley Challenge this morning, but Tiffin & Walton came back
to take a 2 foot verdict at the finish.
Aberdeen University go out to Harvard: having
drawn a seeded Harvard crew in the first round of the Visitors',
Aberdeen University knew they were really up against it. The verdict
was 2 1/4 lengths to Harvard. Other Scottish crews racing today
are George Watson's vs Tiffin School & Walton in the Fawley
at 1045 and Glasgow University vs Imperial College in the Temple
at 1730. Full Henley results are coming up very fast on the official
web site here
Britannia set to be a beezer? First round racing
in the Britannia Challenge at Henley yesterday showed close racing
(half the verdicts were under a length) suggesting this may be a
rewarding event to watch during the regatta. Unfortunately for the
Scots, Aberdeen University went out to Isis BC, but did so in the
second fastest heat of the 16 matches raced in the event yesterday
- and then only by 3/4 length.
2 July
Some
photos from the Aberdeen Inter-Company Regatta. Above. The
winners, Aberdeen Asset 'Reloaded'. L to R; coach/cox Pam
Stevenson, Michael Ross, Tom McCormick, Kelly Newlands, Margaret
Cottam. Left: The lighter
(fluffier?) side of the event. The 'Petrofac Pink Panthers'
won the best dressed crew prize. Below: The
winning stroke. Aberdeen Asset Reloaded come to the line with
quality of technique which belies the fact that this was only
their 6th outing! (photos courtesy Tom McCormick)
AUBC on telly: there is a package shot at Henley
today on the Aberdeen University crews, to be broadcast tonight
in North Tonight on Grampian TV, starting at 6.00pm.
Glasgow go through at Henley: in the Temple, Glasgow
University beat Abingdon School by 3 1/4 lengths. You can follow
Henley results
in full on the official web site
Myles in front: following a strong performance
in GB junior trials, George Watson's sculler Kirsty Myles has been
selected for the GB double scull to race in the Coupe de la Jeunesse.
Hiring SARA boats for the National Rowing Championships
of Great Britain: any club wanting to hire SARA boats for
the championships should contact Callum Macdonald by phone (01698
250206) or e-mail
ASAP, but at the latest by Monday 7th July.
New coaches qualify: Congratulations to eight
new coaches who have completed the Rowing Instructor's Certificate
RIC) course: Damien Ward (Inverness RC), Stuart Vallance (Aberdeen
Schools RA), Jim Wilkinson (George Heriots School), Donald Harley
(Nithsdale ARC), Maureen McGarvie (Glasgow RC), James Fullarton
(Clydesdale ARC), Karen Barton (Strathclyde Park RC) and Kevin Watson
(Stirling RC)
Coaching Register reminder: a reminder that all
coaches must return the new-style registration
form to Callum
Macdonald by 17th July.
Assets 'tied up'?: SARA's insurance company has
emphasised that all SARA boats racked outside must be tied down.
Anyone using a SARA boat must ensure that, when not in use but kept
outside, it is well tied down. (Good advice for any boat anyway!)
On the same subject, any damage to SARA fleet boats must be immediately
recorded in the damage log which is kept in the boat bay.
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Golden
girls. 
Some
photos from the Aberdeen Inter-Company Regatta.