News

Posted: 8 April 2024

The Scottish Argonauts Project provides a unique opportunity for many of our junior rowers to experience training and racing in eights at a national level competition, namely Women’s Eights Head of the River Race and Head of the River Race on the Tideway. The Project has been running for several years and is a staple in the Junior Performance Pathway. We look forward to the continuation of the Argonauts project for many years to come.

2024 saw 35 athletes attend our Selection Trial in Inverness on the 23^rd – 25^th of February. The athletes showed great promise and dedication with 18 (one Men’s 8+ and one Women’s 8+) successful in gaining selection to race on the Tideway. The athletes selected were excited to don their Lion Rampant kit and take to the Thames.

First up was our Women’s crew who headed to the Women’s Eights Head of the River Race on the 9^th of March. The crew comprised of; Gabrielle Topp and Thea Aitken from Aberdeen Schools Rowing Association; Lucie Edwards, Clara Harrigan-Lees and cox Hugo McGeorge from George Heriot’s School; Rebecca Harrison, Zoe Cochrane and Anna Moore from St Andrew Boat Club; and Isabel Soyinka from Clydesdale Amateur Rowing Club, made their way to London accompanied by Mike Martin (Scottish Rowing Junior Co-Ordinator), Mary Rouse (Scotland Rowing Team Volunteer) and Cara O’Donnell (Scottish Rowing’s Sport Programme Coordinator).

After a strong race battling some tricky conditions, they finished 121^st overall and 25^th in the School/Junior category with an admirable time of 21:57.1. We look forward to working with many of these young women in the future both as juniors and as they transition through to seniors.

The Head of the River Race for the Men took place on the 23^rd of March. The men’s crew featured, Finlay Morton from Strathclyde Park Rowing Club, Cameron Khan from George Heriot’s School and 7 representatives from Clydesdale Amateur Rowing Club; Jake Stewart, Evan Colclough, Tom Morrison, Thomas Lowrie, Rory Stewart-Knight, John Anderson and cox Jaime Stewart. They were accompanied by Lindsay Flockhart (Scottish Rowing Junior Development Coach), Skye Balance (Junior Coach from Clydesdale) and Dale Flockhart (Scottish Rowing’s Assistant Performance Pathway Coach).

The men’s crew faced off against 296 crews on the Thames, finishing 137^th overall and 7^th in the Open Junior category. They stormed down the course with a time of 18:59.5. Some interesting potential to watch for in the future coming out of this crew, we cannot wait to see how you all do in the rest of the season!

A huge thank you goes out to Dulwich College Boat Club for hosting us and allowing us use of their boats, to Stevie and Fraser Kerr for helping us organise our boat borrowing and transporting our oars. We could not have raced without you, Thank You!