News

Posted: 12 November 2025

For many rowers in Scotland, Inverness’ Caley Cruisers Autumn Head is an exciting opportunity for crews to race against Scotland’s best athletes in the early stages of each season; and this time round it also saw two historic firsts for the Scottish Rowing Performance Pathway.

The first milestone was hosting a GB Rowing Team U19 Trials event, and the second being the first B1 Visually Impaired athlete (fully blind) to race a single scull down a head-race course (to our knowledge).

GB Rowing Team U19 Benchmarking Trial

British Rowing have been looking for ways to make the trials process more accessible, and minimising unnecessary strain, travel and costs on junior athletes, parents & coaches. This has led to a regional benchmarking system being trialled for the 2025-26 season, and many in the Scottish Rowing community were pleased to see Inverness host the Scottish event.

Early in Division 1 on Saturday, sixteen Scottish athletes laid down their first benchmarking performance for the season as part of the 2026 U19 World Championship & Coupe de la Jeunesse trials process.

Image: Scottish Rowing. The U19 Triallists marshalling ahead of their race.

George Watson’s College BC dominated the U19 Men’s event with their rowers taking the top 3 spots with the 2025 Scottish Championships Open 1x Silver Medallist, Ezra Ferguson, taking the overall win, followed by teammates Ruairidh McNabb and James Palmer.

Image: Scottish Rowing. Aberdeen School's athlete, Morrison, racing down the course.

In the U19 Women’s Event, Glasgow RC’s, Caitlin Warnock, 2025 Scottish Champion in the Junior & J16 1x, took the winners medal, with 2025 JIRR gold medallist Stevie Gildert (Strathclyde Park RC) finishing second, J16, Alva Clements (George Watson’s College BC) finishing in third.

Image: Scottish Rowing. Glasgow RC's, Warnock (left) and Strathclyde Park's, Gildert (right), racing down the course. 

Having laid down their early-season performances, our GB hopefuls will get back to some valuable winter training ahead of their first trip to Boston (Lincolnshire) in February where they will race against the rest of the GB hopefuls in the final long-distance trial of the season.

VI sculler takes brave step in racing Inverness

Many across Scotland will be familiar with St Andrew BC’s Samantha Gough, a B1 (fully blind) athlete, passionate ambassador for sports & disability charities, Home International Winner, Henley Women’s Regatta Champion and International Blind-Footballer.

This weekend, Sam travelled to Inverness, armed with her new sidekick, Helga the guide dog, where she took to the Caledonian Canal for her first ever head-race. Not being one to shy away from a challenge, Sam took her fearless reputation to new levels when she entered the Women’s Res2 single scull on Saturday afternoon.

Image: Scottish Rowing. Sam with Helga before the race. You can of course follow Helga on Instagram @guidedoghelga

Fresh from a strong performance at GB Trials in Caversham the previous weekend, Sam took to the water in Inverness using her experience of straight-line racing with steerer Tom Young (Scottish Rowing) guiding her from the towpath via radio communication. Sam (and Tom) used the long row to the Dochgarroch Lock to learn the new skill of navigate corners while racing, and then with the help of an army of IRC volunteers managed the marshalling zone expertly – all that was left, the small feat of racing the distance back to IRC.

Image: Scottish Rowing. Sam adjusting her headset in the marshalling zone.

“It felt so freeing to row the Caledonian Canal in a single scull. It was a long race but completing it with no sight and no floats was truly incredible. A massive thank you to everyone who supported me especially Tom who helped steer me down the canal”

Image: Scottish Rowing. Sam racing down the course.

As far as large entry headraces go, Sam’s was an uneventful one. A clean run down the track, with a good racing line and strong race plan execution saw Sam finish third out of 11 in her category. Looking for a slightly easier option, Sam also jumped into a 2x with a clubmate from St Andrew BC.

“On Sunday I had the chance to row in the women’s doubles with Emily Duke, and taking home a medal was such an amazing feeling. This weekend should show people that having a disability shouldn’t stop anyone from participating”

Image: Scottish Rowing. Sam in the marshalling zone waving at the camera. 

An exciting and inspiring first for para-rowing in Scotland and hopefully one that highlights how accessible and adaptable our sport can be, and just how much it can mean for small efforts to be made for those who need it.

Our thanks of course go to Inverness RC, the organising volunteers, SR umpires and St Andrew BC for the part that they played in making this occasion happen.

For more information on para-rowing at a performance level, you can find out more on the British Rowing website or if you have a visual impairment and are interested in trying rowing then why not take a look at the Scottish Rowing Row The Rhythm programme – get in touch here.