News

Posted: 23rd July 2024

A total of sixty-one athletes, from seventeen different clubs have been selected to represent Scotland this Saturday (27th July) at the Home International Regatta at Strathclyde Park.

Fifty-three (87%) of these athletes are representing a Scottish club. Edinburgh Uni boasts the highest representation with 12 athletes competing across three of the teams (Senior Women, Senior Men and Junior Women) with Aberdeen Schools Rowing Association and St Andrew Boat Club also offering a strong share of the team, each with seven athletes representing. A large portion of the team will be making their debut for Scotland at the regatta with thirty-four athletes wearing the saltire for the first time, over 50% of the total team! 

Both the Junior Men’s and Women’s team each have three returning athletes from the 2023 regatta, including The Glasgow Academy’s Ollie Plank who won the JM1x B event in Lough Rinn last July. Ezra Ferguson, of George Watsons’ College BC, will make his debut racing the JM1x after a strong season in the scull, winning the GB vs France J16 Match, following silver medals at the Junior Inter Regional Regatta J16 1x and in both the J18 and J16 1x’s at the recent British Rowing Championships.

In the Junior Women’s team, sisters, Charlotte & Lily Arthur will team up again alongside each other at the regatta, and fresh off a recent win at Henley Women’s Regatta in the Groton School Challenge Cup (J4+) with Aberdeen Schools Rowing Association.

The Senior Men’s team hosts a wealth of experience, with last year's captain Ben Parsonage (Clydesdale ARC) due to race his sixth HIR (2016, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023 & 2024) alongside PR3 sculler Colin Wallace (University Rowing Aberdeen), who has not only already raced at six HIR’s (2001, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2010 & 2011) but has also represented as a coach on five occasions (2008, 2012, 2013, 2014 & 2015).

Isla Wilding (Strathclyde Park RC) and Maisie Aspinall (University Rowing Aberdeen) return to the Scotland team after their trio of wins each at Lough Rinn in 2023 (W2-/W4+, W8+ & W8+ sprint). Maia Hely of St Andrew BC returns to the Senior Women’s Team for the first time since 2019, where she won both the W4- and W8+. Maia is one of only two athletes in this year’s Scotland Team with experience of lifting a team trophy at this event, alongside Ben Parsonage, both will be looking to use that experience to drive their teams to success once again as the regatta returns to Strathclyde Park!

Scotland has a fine group of Para athletes representing at the 2024 regatta, with the highly experienced Colin Wallace racing the PR3 M1x. Jake Woods of Strathclyde Park RC returns to race the PR1 M1x in 2024 following his double win in 2023 and recent debut for Great Britain at World Cup 3 in Poznan. Samantha-Louise Gough of St Andrew BC will make her debut racing the PR3 W1x shortly after her victory at Henley Women’s Regatta in the Grosvenor Challenge Cup.

Interim Head of Performance, Tom Young, said “It’s incredibly exciting to see both the experience and strength of returning athletes to the 2024 Team, alongside the exciting new talent that we have in Scotland making their debuts. Last time the regatta came to Strathclyde Park in 2019 we had the pleasure of seeing the Senior Men, Senior Women and Junior Men all win the team trophies for the event, and this year’s team has every intention of competing at this level again!”

Graeme Cunningham leads the team as Team Manager for a 15th occasion, supported by Assistant Team Manager, Cara O’Donnell. Colin Williamson and Mike Martin return once more to lead the Senior Men’s and Junior Women’s team, respectively, while Lindsay Flockhart and Kevin Plank will steer the Senior Women and Junior Men on their campaigns.

Click here to see the full Scotland Team List.

You can follow all the action on the HIR website and through Scottish Rowing’s social media channels on Facebook and Instagram.