News

Posted: 13 May 2024

The regatta season started off strong on the 20^th of April as the Scotland Region Team attended the British Rowing Junior Inter-Regional Regatta (JIRR) for the first time ever!

Sixty-two athletes, representing nine Scottish Rowing clubs, made the trip to Nottingham for an exciting and intense day of racing, facing off against the twelve other regions. The day featured a packed schedule of racing across all boat categories with time trials taking place in the morning, seeding crews into some tight side-by-sides in the afternoon. For many of the junior athletes it was their first opportunity to get a taste of racing at this level, taking on some of the best athletes from across the country.

Some of the team reunited at the Scottish Rowing Spring Regatta.

Photo Credit: Holly Jones

Shay from Inverness Rowing Club made history early in the day, picking up Scotland’s first ever JIRR medal with Bronze in the OJ15 1x 2^nd boat event by the closest of margins (one hundredth of a second off the silver!).

This started a very successful run of medals in the small boat events as Stevie from Strathclyde Park Rowing Club claimed Scotland’s first Gold in the WJ15 1x 2^nd boat A-Final, followed closely by Glasgow Rowing Club’s, Caitlin, winning the silver in the 1^st boat A-final of the same event.

Other medal winners from the Scotland team include:

Gold

• WJ16 2-             Sophie & Ruby (TGA/GSRC)
• WJ16 4-             Sophie, Ruby, Iris & Emily (TGA/GSRC)
• OJ14 2x             Ruiaridh & Rory (GWC)
• WJ14 4x+          Niamh, Fern, Darcey, Anna & Lilia (CARC/SABC)

Silver

• OJ16 1x             Ezra (GWC)

Bronze

• WJ15 2x            Alva & Catie (GWC/SABC)

Co-Team Manager, Ronan Welch said “It was fantastic to see such a strong team come together from across the Scottish Rowing community, and to perform so strongly on our first entry to the event shows the strength and depth of junior rowing in Scotland. A massive thank you to the coaches and parents for being the logistical support to make it all happen. I can't wait to be back again next year and to see how this key junior pathway event evolves in providing top level racing for all age and stages!”

The medallists came from eight of the nine clubs represented at the regatta, demonstrating the depth of the junior talent within Scottish clubs and making us the talk of the regatta.

The final medal tally was:

• 5 Gold
• 2 Silver
• 2 Bronze

The medal winners from the event!

Photo Credit: Cara O'Donnell/Ronan Welch

In the overall team event for the Victores Ludorum (VL), Team Scotland remained competitive all day, particularly in the women’s events. The girls worked hard and placed a close 3^rd in the Women’s VL, with a mere 3 points between them and first. The boys also raced admirably to take 6^th place in Men’s VL. Team Scotland came 5^th in the Overall standings, an impressive result for the teams first inclusion in the event. See the full results from the day here.

A huge thank you goes out to the clubs, coaches and parents who supported the team and helped make this event such a great success. The atmosphere around the Team Scotland gazebo as well as cheering at the side of the course was fantastic and really made the event a special day for all involved.

Co-Team Manager, Cara said “It was amazing to see such a great team atmosphere, everyone pulled together to help the day run as smoothly as possible. The rowing community that we have in Scotland is so wonderful and it really shone through. JIRR has cemented itself into my Top 3 regatta’s I’ve had the pleasure of going to!”

Well done to all the athletes who competed at the event, they were a fantastic representation of the Scottish Rowing community, and we cannot wait to go back for more in 2025!