 |
To get your news & photos noticed, simply e-mail me
|
|
|
 |
21 June |
 |
| |
 |
|
 |
| |
Henley Women's Regatta: Alex Gemie of Aberdeen Boat Club was the sole Scottish representative to win at Henley Womens Regatta this year, described by chairman Diane Graham as the 'highest standard ever'. She was competing in the relatively new Senior Lightweight 1x event and raced through several competitive rounds breaking the course record each time. Her final time of 6 mins 5 secs shattered the record by 10 seconds in a neck and neck battle with Islas Garcia of Agecroft.
Also competing at the event were several more Scottish clubs. Crews reaching semi-finals included Imogen Walsh of Clyde ARC (Elite Lwt 1x), Clydesdale ARC (Senior 4x), Amanda Larcombe of Glasgow University BC (Senior 1x) and Edinburgh University BC (Academic 4+). Racing in the finals Polly Swan and Jen Reid of Edinburgh University BC lost by only half a length to Leander Club in Elite 2-.
Scot Champs Photos: Pictures from the Scottish Championships are now up on David Nolan's Flickr page, www.flickr.com/photos/davidnolan4.
Burgashell: Burgashell is up and running again under the ownership of Tony Burrows who has purchased the assets of the company and trading commenced in April 2009. The business is now located near Ely which is not far from Sutton where Burgashell was previously based. A price list is available from the owner and things are reported to be going well. Bill Burgass is also on board to offer help and advice and can be contacted on 07775 941655; Tony can be contacted on 07815 969789 or e-mailed at tonyb823@hotmail.co.uk
|
|
 |
|  |
|
16 June |
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
Henley Women's Regatta: The draw for Women's Henley is now available on the HWR website. There are a number of Scottish crews taking part - Aberdeen BC (Senior Lwt 1x), Aberdeen University BC (Academic 4+, Elite 2x), ASRA (Junior 4+), Clyde ARC (Lwt 1x, Lwt 2-), Clydesdale ARC (Senior 4x), Edinburgh University (Academic 4+ & 8, Elite 2-), George Heriots School (Junior 4+) and Glasgow University (Senior 1x). Racing starts on Friday with time trials for the academic 4+ and 8 crews.
Also racing at Women's Henley will be Olympian Sarah Winkless, who has broken her retirement for a unique charity challenge. She will be rowing for the first time to raise funds for Huntingdon's Disease, from which her mother suffers, and for which Sarah is gene-positive. The target is not to win (although tell her that and you will be disabused), but to raise a minimum of £10,000 for the Scottish Huntingdon's Association, for which she is a devoted patron.
Her partner in the double scull is retired veteran oarswoman and mother, Victoria Wood. "We formed this plan just a couple of days ago", Sarah explains. "We were both tired with rowing being a joy only if you win and all the pressures that go with it. But rowing to win funding for Huntingdon's is a whole new motivation, and we knew that the sorority of the Henley Women's Regatta would make this £10,000 in 10 days seem possible. The support of the Regatta and the Copas family behind it has been unstinting, and we are both moved and slightly terrified by what we have started".
Her partner in the boat, Victoria, added "Sarah's told she's amazing all the time and rightly so, but rowing with an old trout like me is a refreshing burst of mediocrity for her. We have both brought utter madness into the boat, and this is carried into this fundraising adventure in spades. And we need it - we want to compete for as long as we can in an elite event at an elite regatta and in doing so, raise £10K in 10 days. We know the longer we stay in the event, the more money we will raise. The pressure to succeed is a little disquieting, to say the least but that's the reason we are doing it - because it is difficult and a real challenge".
What's clear is that both of them have their gritted teeth into this venture, and have just one outcome in mind for Sunday 21 June, when the regatta reaches its climax. For once in the sporting lives of this pair there is one thing more important than winning.
Read more and donate here: www.justgiving.com/pullforhuntingdons
|
|
|
| |
 |
15 June |
 |
| |
|
|
|
| |
Scot Champs Results: Results from the weekend's racing are now available in pdf format - Saturday, Sunday.
Scot Champs 2009 was held in unusually good conditions - despite the threatening rain clouds circling Strathclyde Park on both days, the weather remained mainly warm and sunny, with only a mild crosswind at worst and at best a helpful tailwind. A thunder storm briefly threatened racing late on Sunday afternoon but fortunately moved away before there was any danger to racing.
The weekend brought close racing in many events, with many nail-biting finishes and plenty of excitement for spectators. Glasgow RC were dominant in the men's sweep events, winning the eight, coxed and coxless four and pair; Clydesdale ARC took the honours in the double and quad. In the junior races, the youngest competitors took part in the Invitational Schools S1-S3 Event, with Cults Academy winning out over Glasgow School RC.
Photographs from the event are now up on Niall Darroch's website.
Photos: Top - Glasgow RC, winners of Men's Open Eights. Bottom, James Murphy and Imogen Walsh, both of Clyde ARC, winners of Men's and Women's Open Singles. Photos courtesy of Niall Darroch and Roy Sinclair.
|
|
|
| |
|
6 June |
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
HIR Selection:The Crew Selection Days for the Scotland Senior Teams, for the 2009 Home Countries International Regatta, will take place on Sunday 21st June (Men) and Sunday 28th June (Women) at Inverness Rowing Club. The Senior Team Selectors will meet at the conclusion of the Scottish Championships to decide on the athletes to be invited. Athletes invited to attend the Crew Selection Day will be contacted on Monday 15th June, when further details will be provided. Equipment will be provided by the National Rowing Academy and therefore athletes will need only to arrange their own transport to Inverness.
Athletes are reminded that if they are not competing at the Scottish Championships they must complete a registration form and return it to the Team Manager before the commencement of the Scottish Championships. Athletes competing at the Scottish Championships are
not required to register but are encouraged to do so to ensure that they receive all relevant information. The registration form is
available here, and the selection policy can be found on the International page. Forms for Junior athletes should be completed by a parent/guardian. The Crew Selection Day for Juniors will be arranged after the Junior Coaches Forum that will be held during the Scottish Championships. Coaches of Junior athletes who have not received an invitation should contact the team manager.
The Team Manager, Graeme Cunningham, will endeavour to speak to as many athletes and coaches as possible during the Scottish
Championships but can be contacted at any time on 07824341287 or at graeme.cunningham@scottish-rowing.org.uk.
Met Regatta: A number of Scots were racing at the Metropolitan Regatta at Dorney Lake last weekend - full results on the Met Regatta website. Pictures from the Metropolitan Regatta at Dorney Lake are now up on David Nolan's Flickr page, www.flickr.com/photos/davidnolan4.
|
|
|
| |
|
15 May |
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
Ghent International Regatta: Last weekend saw a record entry of over 1650 crews at the Ghent International Regatta, incorporating the Belgian National Rowing Championships and Flemish Junior Championships. The standard was high and racing from the 4000 competitors intense as some countries used the weekend as a selection regatta for their national teams. Many events such as Men's Junior single scull on the Saturday had up to 90 entries. Scotland was represented by Clydesdale ARC, Glasgow Schools Rowing Club and Strathclyde Park RC who returned home with 1 Gold, 2 Silver and 2 Bronze medals.
A number of Clydesdale crews raced to medals - Karen Bennett and Samantha Fowler did well to lead Sunday's Women's U23 double final for the first 1000m only to be pushed into second place in the middle of the race and eventually take Silver. Jack Leask sculled superbly to claim Bronze in the Men's J16 single from a field of 50 scullers, and also finished a creditable 7th out of 50 in the Junior doubles event in a relatively untried combination with clubmate Ross Irvine. Jonathan Adams and Christopher Rae both qualified comfortably through their morning heats to set up a head-to-head in the final of the Men's U23 single scull. In the final, Chris led the whole way to take Gold, with Jonny just edging ahead of a strong opponent from Tideway Scullers to take silver.
 In addition to those above, Strathclyde Park Rowing Club's Kelly Limond won a bronze medal in Womens Lwt 1x, and three English-based Scots won medals in the Womens 8s - Sally Pollock-Morris (Scotland HIR Team 2008) and Susie Logan (ex-St Andrew BC) winning gold and bronze with Wallingford RC over the two days and Ellie Dorman (Scotland HIR and Commonwealth teams and ex-Clydesdale member), now rowing for Imperial, winning silver and then gold.
Photographs: Above - Chris Rae and Jonny Adams at their medal ceremony. Below - Sole representative of Glasgow Schools Rowing Club, Euan Malone finished 5th overall out of a field of 30 scullers in the J12 singles event, pictured here crossing the finish line. Photos courtesy of Ross Malone.
|
|
|
| |
|
11 May |
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
Clydesdale Regatta Provisional Draw: The provisional draw in excel and pdf format for the Clydesdale Regatta incorporating the Edinburgh Glasgow University Boat Race this Saturday is now available. The organisers have done their best to accommodate clashes, and requests due to exams and equipment sharing, however, some competitors may find they have a short turnaround time between races, or a long time between heats and finals. The organisers therefore ask that all competitors help the regatta run smoothly by making sure they are at the start in plenty of time and by planning for quick boat changes. Information for competitors is also available. If competitors notice any errors, please notify the organisers asap.
Nithsdale Sports Council Male personality of the Year: Alistair Sarahs of George Watson's College Boat Club won the 2008 Nithsdale Sports Council Male Pesonality of the Year Award at an awards dinner held in the Cairndale Hotel, Dumfries on Friday evening. Alistair had a very successful season in 2008 winning double Gold for Great Britain in Cork at the Coupe de la Jeunesse, Gold for Great Britain in Munich, treble Gold for Scotland in Cardiff at HIR which helped in winning the junior men's match for the first time since 1970 and being awarded the SARA Junior Oarsman of the Year.
Dramatic end to Record-Breaking North East Regatta: The 2009 North East Regatta took place in spectacular style on the River Dee last weekend (9th & 10 May 2009). This is the main local regatta of the rowing season and is organised by the Committee of the Dee, a group made up of representatives from every rowing club in Aberdeen. Saturday saw a record number of entrants from various clubs across Scotland; 107 races were held over the 700 metre course from Polmuir to the Aberdeen Boat Club Boathouse. Races involved 145 different crews ranging in size from single sculling boats to coxed Eights and competitors ages from 13 years to over 65.
The Championship of the Dee trophy is presented to the most successful club over the weekend?s racing and the Aberdeen Schools Rowing Association (ASRA) smashed records with an unparalleled score of 264 point by the end of the regatta. The second placed club, Aberdeen Boat Club with 128 points, amassed less than half of ASRA?s record-breaking total and Aberdeen University Boat Club came in third place with 78 points.
The regatta finished in dramatic style with a dead-heat in the last race of the day on Sunday. The race was the final of Generation Double Sculls; an event featuring two competitors in each boat, one a junior and another, not necessarily related, who is at least 25 years older. The race had huge local interest with father-and-son combination of Ron and Atholl Wallace clawing back a lead held by the unrelated crew of junior Lewis McCue and veteran rower James Steel. The Wallaces had energy for a final push to the line which robbed the McCue/Steel crew of the advantage it had held all down the course and left it impossible for the finishers to separate the crews. The organising committee decided on the unusual step of awarding tankards to all four competitors rather than asking the exhausted quartet to re-run the race.
|
|
|
| |
|
5 May 2009 |
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
Clydesdale Regatta: Reminder that entries for the Clydesdale Regatta close this Thursday at 7pm.
British Universities Regatta - Final Day: The final day at Holme Pierrepont saw a successful end to the British University Rowing Championships for Scottish crews. On a day where racing was suspended for over 2 hours due to high winds, the Scottish University crews came away with medals in 3 further events. Stephanie McDowall and Jenny Chambers of Aberdeen University saw off a challenge from Newcastle University to add bronze in the Women's Championship Double Scull to Stephanie's earlier bronze in the Single Scull. Another bronze followed shortly, this time from Glasgow University in the Women's Lightweight Quadruple Scull. In the final race of the regatta, the Edinburgh University Women's Championship Coxed Four, emerged from the white horses to blow away their rivals with a 10 second win over Imperial College.
Scottish HIR 2008 team members, Athalie Redwood-Brown and Laurian Pepper rounded off a busy weekend on the podium by collecting another medal, this time silver, in the Women's Lightweight Coxless Pair. Scottish crews made finals in 2 other events. The Championships overall were a success for Scots both on the water (medal tally - 2 golds, 2 silvers, 6 bronzes) and off the water where Lee Boucher, Graeme Cunningham, Alan Easson and Carol Wallace were involved in the organisation of the event. Following the Championships, a number of the medal winners in the Championship events will be receiving invites to compete at the European Universities Rowing Championships, which is set to take place in Kruszwica, Poland from 2 - 5 September.
|
|
|
| |
|
2 May |
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
North-East Regatta: Reminder to all that the closing date for entries is 10am this Sunday.
Equity Audits - Umpires and Coaches: The Board's thanks goes to all Umpires and Coaches who completed and returned forms for the ongoing Equity Audit of Participation. Any Umpires or Coaches who still have a form in their possession and want it included can either mail it to Tom Hewitt (address etc on the form) or pop it into a collecting box at the Championships, or put it in an envelope and hand it to Tom whenever you first see him. Apologies go to those Coaches who were not given a form at the weekend. The file for it will shortly be emailed to Club Secretaries for onward distribution. Alternatively, email Tom on tom.hewitt[at]physics.org and one will be dispatched by return.
Grainger takes the single spot: Britain's top female rower, Katherine Grainger, has been given a new challenge ahead of the upcoming World Cup event in Banyoles, Spain. The Olympic silver medallist from St Andrew Boat Club will compete in the single scull after her comprehensive victory at the GB Senior Team trials in Hazewinkel last month. The move away from the quadruple scull, where she has won three world titles and two Olympic silvers, holds no fear for Katherine. "The single will be a huge challenge and I'll really miss the camaraderie of the crew boats. But I'm excited about trying something different for now and testing myself in various ways", said Grainger. The first world cup event of the season takes place from 29th to 31st May in Banyoles, Spain.
GB Junior Selection Regatta and World Class Start Camp: In the baking sunshine at Dorney Lake, Eton, 12 Scottish Junior athletes took part in the next phase of testing for 2009 GB Junior Team selection. The venue for the rowing at the London 2012 Olympics hosted the GB Junior Selection Regatta, with 149 young athletes from across the UK hoping to secure an invitation to the GB Junior Final Trials in Nottingham. 2 Scottish athletes made the A Final, with Rosie Young of Strathclyde Park RC finishing in 3rd place in the Junior Women's 2- with her partner Phoebe Cowen of Headington School. Andrew Holmes of George Watson's College, along with his partner Tom Edwards of Durham School, produced 3 solid rows to finish 4th overall in the A Final of the Junior Men's 2-. The same venue also hosted an assessment camp for GB Rowing's World Class Start scheme. 7 Glasgow based athletes attended with 3 of the group, Karen Bennett, Samantha Fowler and Chris Rae, all of Clydesdale ARC, making A Finals.
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
This site is designed for
MS
Explorer 5/ Netscape 5 or later. If you have older versions, try using the links to download their latest (free) v6 updates
|
|
 |
Castle Semple Regatta: The results from Castle Semple regatta are now on-line on the 
Clydesdale Regatta: Saturday's regatta on the Clyde was held in mostly good conditions, with a tail-wind and even occasional sunshine. The organisers ran an excellent event, with racing running to perfect time, despite the occasional unexpected item on the river (see photo opposite). Photographs from the regatta and from the Edinburgh Glasgow Boatrace can be seen at 
In the reserve races Edinburgh showed a depth of talent by taking both the men’s and women’s titles. Edinburgh University then successfully continued its winning streak in the women’s varsity race, although with a much narrow margin of victory than had been predicted. In the Blue Ribband event, Glasgow University surprised many of the spectators by over-turning recent results and taking a clear victory on their home water. Edinburgh secured the overall match 4-1 by winning a closely fought battle between both clubs’ novice rowers on rowing machines. Both clubs will now set their sights on the Scot Champs before heading south for Henley Royal
Regatta.
