News

Posted: July 28, 2016.

Glasgow rower Callum Urquhart believes his crew has a good chance of medalling at the annual Coupe de la Jeunesse junior competition taking place in Poznan, Poland this weekend.

The 17-year-old Glasgow Schools Rowing Club member was announced in the 51 strong Great Britain team earlier this week following a long and arduous selection process.

“This will be the biggest event I have competed in,” said Callum who will compete in the four.  “I’ve raced at Henley twice now and I represented Scotland at the Home Internationals last year but I have never represented Great Britain until now.

“The trials were difficult mentally and physically because you race so much and your mental state can change a lot.  

“You go from winning a race and feeling really good to losing a race and feeling really bad.  

“But I was pleased with how I did and it was really nice at the end to know I had made the team.”

Great Britain has been successful at past Coupe events, described as an important stepping stone to an international rowing career, winning the competition on 12 previous occasions, the last time being in 2013.  

Callum will compete in the four along with Henry Jones (Westminster School BC), Marcus Jonas (Tideway Scullers School) and Alexander Wythe (Winchester College BC).

Until a fortnight ago this combination had had never rowed together, but after intense preparation Callum believes they are heading in the right direction:  “It was a bit shaky at first because of our different styles and techniques of rowing.  

“But it’s come together really nicely and we stand a really good chance of medalling this weekend.

“It’s a really big thing to be part of a GB four.  GB at all levels usually puts its top athletes in the four, so it’s pretty special to be part of a GB four in an international competition.

“The four is a really competitive event and some countries like Italy put a lot of emphasis on this event, so the quality of the field will be really high but we are hoping for a good outcome.”

This weekend’s event will also be Callum’s last chance to compete in the under 18 category, but he is already planning the next stage of his rowing career after gaining a place at the University of Edinburgh in September to begin a philosophy degree.

“Most people who are selected for this team have another year to trial but, with the way my birthday lies, I only have one year,” he added.

“I’m pleased to get here and I’m going to Edinburgh next year and looking forward to getting into the university team and under 23s which is the next level up.

“Edinburgh’s definitely got the best programme in Scotland and it’s good academically.  It’s the whole package.”

In 2015 the University of Edinburgh was recognised as Scotland’s first High Performance Programme for the GB Rowing Team and is fast becoming the UK’s go-to rowing university.

Scottish Rowing’s investment in professional coaching and support services, in partnership with the university sector and the sportscotland institute of sport, has been a real success story in Scotland and has put rowing on the sporting map.

Earlier this month Edinburgh became the first Scottish university to win a Henley final in the regatta's 177 year history.