National Schools Regatta, 2022

At the prestigious annual National Schools Regatta on the Olympic course at Dorney Lake, Eton, on the 28th & 29th May, 5 crews from the Aberdeen Schools Rowing Association joined 5000 of Great Britain’s best young rowers to compete for national titles. All five crews reached their respective “A “ finals , three reached the medal podium and the remaining two missed out on medals by under a second.

ASRA’s top girls, Zoe Beeson and Maisie Aspinall, fresh from their GB triumphs at Munich and Varese, simply blew the rest of the field away to bring home gold and the Leander Cup for championship girls’ coxless pairs for a second year in succession and our J16 boys - Harris Pearce, Magnus Heidenreich, Gregor MacLeod & Magnus Lawson, coxed by Samuel Cordiner – successfully fought off the close attention of Hinksey Sculling School and Hampton Boat Club in a nail-biting finish to snatch gold and the Arundel Cup for Aberdeen.

Not to be outdone, our J16 girls’ eight in the club’s first ever final in this event at the National Schools Regatta - Margaret Seward, Emily Simpson, Charlotte Arthur, Tamara Brew, Sophie Sinclair, Penny Irvine, Anna Donald & Isla Petty, coxed by Erin Gibson – showed almost unbelievable levels of fitness and determination to move through the field from sixth place after the first 500 metres to take bronze on the line ahead of Surbiton High School Boat Club. Gold and silver went to the seasoned local campaigners from Henley Rowing Club and St Paul’s Girls’ School Boat Club.

Commiserations have to go to our J18 girls - Freya Hughson, Rosie Wilson, Gemma Collins and Ella Brooks, coxed by Lily Arthur - who came agonizingly close to bronze, missing out in the end by .13 of a second to King’s School Chester and our J18 boys in the Championship Coxless fours event - Murray Bone, Samuel Doherty, William Lawson & Christie Probart – who again looked until the last few strokes of the race as if they had done enough to medal, only to lose out on the line to Westminster School Boat Club.