June Quarterly Newsletter - Scottish Rowing

Posted: 01 June 2024

Hello and welcome to the June 2024 quarterly newsletter!

What a busy few months it has been with the transition from Head to Regatta Season and lots of back to back race weekends!

Events So Far

With the end of Head season and Regatta season kicking things into a high gear we have been in full swing this quarter with an impressive 8 Scottish Events taking place, not to mention some big races down south too.

We started the quarter with the three biggest head races of the year. Women’s Head of the River Race took place on the 8^th March with 10 Scottish Crews entered overall including a Junior Scottish Argonauts crew. The ladies from St Andrew Boat Club did exceptionally well winning the Challenge Pennant! Two weeks later there were 9 Scottish crews racing at Head of the River on the 23^rd of March. Well done to Edinburgh University BC – A who came a close third in the University category. Finally, we had 2 crews keeping the Scotland representation alive at The Vesta International Masters Head of the River Race on the 24^th of March.

In between the big events on the Tideway, we had the Clydesdale 4s & 8s Head on the 16^th of March. Across the two divisions, athletes raced the 4km from just before the Dalmarnock Bridge to the finish line at Glasgow Green.

On Sunday the 14^th of April Scottish Rowing hosted their first Regatta Ready Day. This gave members the opportunity to access the water at Strathclyde Park completely free of charge. Check out below what else was on offer.

On the 20^th of April there were two events taking place. One such event saw over 60 of our junior athletes represent the Scotland Region at the Junior Inter-Regional Regatta in Nottingham. The athletes had great success and really set the bar for Scotland joining the event. Back home the Clyde ARC Power Sprint featured 68 side by side races over the short 250m course. An exciting day of racing indeed!

We then came to the first of our large events of the season, the Scottish Rowing Spring Regatta taking place on the 27^th-28^th of April. This year's Spring Regatta had a record number of boats entered, which was really felt on the day with the atmosphere being helped by some lovely weather.

One week later many of our student members headed down to Nottingham for the 3-day event of BUCS Regatta on the 4^th, 5^th and 6^th of May. As always there was some tight racing, lots of laughs and lots of support shown!

The biggest single-day regatta in Scotland took place on the 11^th of May at Castle Semple Regatta. A full day of racing drawn to a close by the highly anticipated Mixed 8+ event. This year we took a break from the racing in the middle of the day, for a lovely boat naming ceremony in memory of the late Jo Pinder, a long-standing member of Castle Semple Rowing Club and staff member at Scottish Rowing. You would have loved it, Jo!

A new milestone was completed with the inaugural Scottish Rowing Beach Sprint Championships which took place in St Andrews on the 18^th of May. As part of the Four Nations Beach Sprint Series, we saw not only Scottish athletes take part but also welcomed competitors from Australia, Austria, England, France, Jersey and Wales. Racing was unfortunately cut short due the Haar rolling in from the North Sea, despite that a fun filled morning was had by all – well done to all of those who braved the waves!

National Schools Regatta took place on the 24^th – 26^th of May with many of our junior athletes, from 5 of our Scottish Clubs, in attendance. There were some great results across the weekend, the highlights being two wins for Aberdeen Schools Rowing Association in the WCh4+ and OCh2- and a win for Glasgow Academy in the WCh1x. Well Done to all the athletes who took part!

Image Credits: Holly Jones, Tom Young, Raymond Leinster

Upcoming Events

As we continue through Regatta season let’s have a peak at what is coming up through the summer months.

Firstly, we have the British Rowing Offshore Championships today and tomorrow in Jersey. Unlike Beach Sprints, offshore rowing usually takes place over 4km and 6km courses, starting on the beach and finishing at sea.

This year the Scottish Rowing Championships will be taking place next weekend on the 8^th and 9^th of June. Be sure to check your boats are race ready and we will see you on the water at Strathclyde Park!

Henley Women’s Regatta will be on the 21^st – 23^rd of June on the iconic Henley course. Good luck to any of our ladies heading down to compete, we wish you the best!

A fun trip to Dumfries awaits everyone not attending Henley Women’s for the Nithsdale Regatta on the 22^nd of June. Be sure to enter this fast paced, 1 vs 1 knockout event to take part in all the excitement.

On to the biggest regatta in the world with Henley Royal Regatta taking place between the 2^nd – 7^th of July. Good luck to all the Scottish Athletes that will be racing at the event.

Another big regatta in the form of the British Championships will be taking place from the 19^th – 22^nd of July. This year they have combined both the junior and senior championships together across the 4-days. It is going to be a busy weekend in Nottingham!

On Saturday the 27^th of July it is once again Scotland’s turn to host the Home International Rowing Regatta. The annual competition sees teams from the four home nations going head-to-head in all boat classes. Applications to be a part of the Scotland team close on Monday the 3^rd of June, make sure to get yourself registered here.
Not going to be part of the team? Come along to spectate and/or volunteer instead, keep an eye on our social media pages for more information coming out soon!

The British Rowing Beach Sprint Championships will also be held in Scotland this year, at St Andrews on the 10^th and 11^th of August. More information will be available on the British Rowing website soon.

Our final regatta of the year will be the North East Regatta in Aberdeen on the 31^st of August and 1^st of September. A great event to end the summer with!

See our full events calendar here!

Staff and Board Changes

We have had an exciting few months with quite a few changes to our staff team and board of directors.

New CEO

Scottish Rowing is delighted to announce the appointment of Lee Boucher as its new Chief Executive Officer. Lee took over earlier this month from Amanda Cobb, who has now officially stepped down after a period of transition - after nearly 14 years with Scottish Rowing.

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Image Credit: Gillian Stewart

We are excited to continue working with Lee and wish him well in his new role!

We would also like to wish Amanda a happy retirement and say a huge thank you for all the hard work and dedication she put into Scottish Rowing during her time with us. We will miss working with you Amanda!

New Board Members

We are delighted to have now appointed three new Board members with considerable, relevant expertise to complete the skills profile of the Board as a whole. As of this week, we can now formally announce our three new Board members, who join the existing elected Directors Dorothy Roberts (Performance), Sophie McCall (Development), and Laura Graham (Coaching).

Alastair Clarkson, Finance Director
Jonny Logan, Commercial Director
Robert Gordon, Ordinary Director [co-opted]

Jonny Logan | Alastair Clarkson | Robert Gordon

GB Trails

Across two weekends in the middle of February, Scottish athletes across a variety of disciplines took part in the February set of trials for the GB Rowing Team across the country. Under 19s, Under 23s, Seniors & Paralympic hopefuls from both the Scottish Rowing Performance Programme and club programmes travelled across the UK to test themselves against the best in the nation.

On the 10^th of February we saw the U23/Senior non-Olympic February Open Trial in Boston. We had some U23 hopefuls competing for their spot in the team for the World Rowing Championships in St Catherines, Canada later this year, and the Senior athletes who are looking to stake their claim for seats during the LA 2028 Olympic cycle.

The GBRT Para Invitational Trial took place the weekend after on the 17^th – 18^th of February at Caversham. As the Paralympic Games draws ever nearer, Scottish Rowing Performance Programme athletes Jake Woods and Samantha Gough travelled down to the Redgrave-Pinsent Rowing Lake to test themselves against the top Para athletes in the UK as they get set for the Paralympic Games in Paris later this year.

Simultaneously, on the 17^th – 18^th was the GBRT U19 February Long Distance Trial in Boston, where the Scottish U19s had their first chance of the season to show off their small boat skills in front of the GB Rowing Team selectors.

Find out more about how the athletes got on

1.1

Junior Inter-Regional Regatta

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.

The final medal tally was:

5 Gold
2 Silver
2 Bronze

Click here to read more about JIRR

Image Credit: Cara O'Donnell and Holly Jones

Regatta Ready Day

Another first for Scottish Rowing as we hosted a Regatta Ready Day on the 14^th of April. The day featured free water access for all, with sessions to practice race starts using the stake boats and a full-time trial. There was also an opportunity for people to get a taste of what it is like to row a coastal boat as they practiced slaloming through the buoys and turning.

On land we had two feature workshops with the sportscotland Institute of Sport staff. Chris Robinson ran a ‘S&C for Rowing: Pathway Curriculum’ workshop which focussed on teaching the best exercises for rowers to use during S&C sessions. This was followed by Katrina Bass’ workshop ‘Conversations in the Car: Supporting your Rowing Athlete,’ which focussed on the ups and downs of competition and ways that parents can help support their child through their rowing career.

We also had stalls from the RNLI, who offered some lifejacket servicing, and Water Safety Scotland, who highlighted the importance of keeping safe in and around the water.

It was a great day overall and thank you to all those who came along!

Images Credit: Rob Waugh

Junior Technical Camps

This summer will see the return of our highly sought after Junior Technical Camps.

Camp 1 is suitable for J14/15 rowers, and Camp 2 is suitable for J16/17 rowers.

During their camp, attendees will have the opportunity to learn from Mike Hughes, EUBC Performance Development Coach. Mike has a proven track record with Edinburgh University beginners, and he had great success with our technical camps in 2023. With a strong focus on the skills required to increase boat speed, your rowers will come away with a greater understanding of how to perform the perfect stroke. Participants will also be able to make use of the Edinburgh University sculling telemetry system, getting to see the fine details of the rowing stroke that will help them stand out from their competitors.

Full camp information and bookings via the links below:

Junior Technical Camp: J14/15 - Monday 29th July - Friday 2nd August

Junior Technical Camp: J16/17 - Monday 5th - Friday 9th August

Remember, spaces are on a first come first serve basis so make sure to get yourself booked on today before they are gone!

Competition & Classification Consultation

Scottish Rowing is currently performing a review of its competition offering for those who engage with competition to achieve a meaningful and satisfactory progression through the sport. This will be a long running project throughout the summer but at the moment we are looking to gain as much feedback as possible within this area - so far a number of virtual consultations have taken place to hear from key areas of the membership about what their experiences are of the existing systems within Scottish Rowing.

Throughout June and July these will continue to take place, including in-person sessions around the various regions. These are great opportunities to feed into this project and ensure that your views are represented within the outputs of the review so please ensure you make your voice heard.

The project lead from Scottish Rowing is Ronan Welch, Pathways Manager - if you have any feedback you would like to provide and/or wish to directly engage with this project and its working groups, then please get in touch via email (ronan.welch@scottish-rowing.org.uk).

Kit for All – Kit Swap

We are excited to offer a Kit for All - Kit Swap as part of the Scottish Rowing Championships!

People will be able to donate kit to the table and pick up any pieces of kit they need, completely free. You do not need to donate to take a piece of kit home, if you need some more kit come along and have a look at what’s available!

Any kit left over at the end of the event will be split equally between our ambassador clubs, or if there is club specific kit this will be donated to the club in question to reuse.

Before donating clothes must:

Be washed before being donated.
Be in decent condition, no holes, or large stains.
Not feature inappropriate paraphernalia (drug references, sexual references etc.)
Have sizing labels attached.
Be appropriate sportswear only.
No underwear accepted (Bras, Socks, etc.)
Accessories such as Trainers, Slides, Hats and Sunglasses are also welcomed.

You will find the stall in the Athlete Rest tent!

Schools Indoor League

The Scottish Rowing Schools Indoor League is a multi-round tournament where pupils compete to earn points toward their school. The league runs from September to November and is split into three rounds and a final in-person event.

The league is a simple way to introduce the sport to young people in schools across the country and build their awareness of it. Indoor rowing is beneficial not just to those who want to row on water, but to anyone who wants to invest in their long term cardiovascular health. As an accessible way to keep fit, the more children we can expose to the excitement of the Indoor League the better!

The league has been growing year on year but now we ask for your help. We are looking for clubs to get involved with their local high schools (especially the ones that are unlikely to have ergs) and help facilitate them to take part in the League.

Not only will this help more young people in your area get fit and potentially lead to new junior members, it may also open the door to funding opportunities for clubs who have capacity to run local outreach projects.

If your club is interested in getting involved, let us know by emailing; league@scottish-rowing.org.uk

Your Stories

We want to hear from you!
We are looking to develop and celebrate the rowing community more. As you, the people, are what make rowing in Scotland so great!

If you have any stories, events, or points of interest you would like to share out in the next Newsletter (September 2024) then please fill in the form linked below. You do not have to have a fully written story as we can help you create .

The newsletters go out on the 1st day of September, December, March, and June. If you would like your story in the next edition, please ensure they are submitted at least one week before the newsletter goes out.

Send your stories in here

Just Go

A reminder to make sure that everything is up to date on your JustGo Account and that you have the correct racing license.

On your JustGo account you will be able to see the points that you have gained last year, add in any credentials you have earned and update any personal information that may be needed for us to help support you.

If you have any issues with your account or notice that is not correct, get in touch with our Membership Support Team so that we can ensure everything is updated properly.

Contact Membership Support