The Scottish Rowing Spring Regatta took place at Strathclyde Park, Motherwell on the 22nd & 23rd April 2023. With the club’s senior athletes either participating at GB trials, or cramming for upcoming exams, it was left to the J14 & J15 crews to represent ASRA. A total of 20 athletes, consisting of 13 boys and 7 girls headed south for their first multi lane racing of the season.

On the Saturday morning, a brisk cross wind created what could only be described as challenging conditions. This proved too much for the W Nov 2x of Anna Taylor and Grace Watt, who capsized in their first race of the day. Undeterred, the girls dried themselves down and joined up with Jennifer Ellis and Katherine Taylor to compete in the W Nov 4x+ where they made it into the B Final. The W J14 2x of Sabina Bird and Mackenzie Park came 4th in their final before combining with Jennifer Ellis and Katherine Taylor to put in a spirited performance in the W J14 4x+.

With the wind increasing by the minute, the O J14 singles of Iain Petty, Luke McMorris, Luke Renwick, and Gavin Pedrog took to the water for their time trial. Iain P and Luke M dealt admirably with the conditions to set the two fastest times in a large field of 17 scullers. Iain then went on to take a well deserved gold in the A Final, with Luke following closely behind for silver. The O J15 singles of John Forbes, Rory Trythall, Hugo Lefort, Finlay Morrision and Nicholas Davies found the conditions trickier, with only Rory making it to the A Final, before having to pull out due to injury.

Sunday morning brought slightly calmer water, however the conditions remained difficult throughout the day. First up was the OJ 15 4x+ of John Forbes, Finlay Morrison, Rory Trythall and Nicholas Davies, who could not quite keep pace with an excellent crew from George Watsons to finish a good 2nd. The boys then formed doubles to race in OJ 15 2x. Joined by another ASRA double of Hugo Lefort and Logan Kinch, the boys placed 3rd, 5th, and 7th.

Next to race were the O J14 2x combinations of Iain Petty & Luke Renwick, Gavin Pedrog & Luke McMorris, Peter Temple & Sandy Bain, Cara Freeman & Harris Parke. In an extremely close final, Ian & Luke R picked up silver, with Gavin & Luke M taking Bronze. These crews then combined to form two OJ 14 coxed quads. The combination of Iain P, Luke R, Gavin P & Luke M topped off a successful weekend by finishing with a silver medal in the eight boat final.

In the absence of the more senior athletes, the youngsters represented ASRA brilliantly both on and off the water. In a weekend which saw difficult conditions, and a record number of capsizes, the kids showed great resilience and character, which will surely hold them in good stead for the remainder of the season.

Well done to everyone, especially Iain Petty & Luke McMorris who each came home with three medals.

Another successful year at the 2022 Scottish Rowing Championships has come and gone for ASRA with plenty of gold and silver medals collected across the two days. ASRA won ten golds and nine silvers over the weekend with some outstanding performances across the board! One notable and particularly exciting event was the women’s pairs where ASRA athletes won gold and silver in Women’s Junior 18 Pairs, silver in Women’s Junior 16 pairs, and then also made it a double by winning gold in Women’s Open Pairs by just 0.03 seconds over Edinburgh University. Another notable performance was from Callum Sherwood in his OJ15 1x who has been taking every opportunity to get out in his single over study leave and his hard work paid off in gold. Victories come in all shapes and sizes, however, and a special mention has to go to Lottie Meekins and Grace Watt who raced some fantastic races in their singles, despite only having been out in a single once before!

Massive thank you to all the drivers and parent helpers that make sure that we can get to and from regattas, and keep kids (and coaches!) sun-creamed up, hydrated and fed! Well done to all the athletes that raced at the weekend, a lot of hard fought and well-deserved medals! Full list of medals below:

GOLD:

• WJ18 8+ (Sophia Brew, Ella Brooks, Freya Cummine, Gemma Collins, Rosie Wilson, Freya Hughson, Maisie Aspinall, Zoe Beeson, cox Lily Arthur
• OJ18 8+ (Christy Probart, Gregor Macleod, Harris Pearce, Magnus Heidenreich, Magnus Lawson, William Lawson, Sam Doherty, Murray Bone, cox Sam Cordiner)
• WJ18 4- (Rosie Wilson, Freya Hughson, Maisie Aspinall, Zoe Beeson)
• WJ18 4+ (Rosie Wilson, Freya Hughson, Maisie Aspinall, Zoe Beeson, cox Lily Arthur)
• WJ18 2- (Maisie Aspinall, Zoe Beeson)
• WO 2- (Maisie Aspinall, Zoe Beeson)
• WJ16 4- (Maggie Seward, Tamara Brew, Emily Simpson, Charlotte Arthur)
• OJ16 2- (Harris Pearce, Magnus Heidenreich)
• OJ15 1x (Callum Sherwood)
• WJ15 1x (Gabrielle Topp)

SILVER/SECOND:

• OJ15 2x (Callum Sherwood, Jack Winton)
• WJ18 2- (Rosie Wilson, Freya Hughson)
• WJ16 2- (Charlotte Arthur, Emily Simpson)
• WJ14 1x (Gabrielle Topp)
• OJ14 4x+ (John Forbes, Rory Trythall, Iain Petty, Luke McMorris, cox Ella Johnson)
• OJ15 4x+ (Callum Sherwood, Jack Winton, Mackenzie Reid, John Forbes, cox Rory Trythall)
• WJ16 4+ (Maggie Seward, Charlotte Arthur, Tamara Brew, Emily Simpson, cox Rory Trythall)
• OJ18 4- (Murray Bone, Sam Doherty, William Lawson, Christy Probart)

At Scottish Rowing’s Junior Summer Regatta held at the National Rowing Centre, Strathclyde Park on Saturday 5^thJune, athletes from the Aberdeen Schools’ Rowing Association, brushed aside the effects of a punishing racing schedule down at the National Schools and Scullery Regattas at Dorney Lake, Eton, just last weekend and put in a series of outstanding performances against the best of Scotland’s junior rowers to win a total of 6 gold and 3 silver medals.

Gold:

• Women’s Junior 15 Quadruple Sculls: Charlotte Arthur, Maggie Seward, Sophie Sinclair & Emily Simpson, coxed by Erin Gibson
• Women’s Junior 15 Double Sculls: Maggie Seward & Emily Simpson
• Men’s Junior  15 Quadruple Sculls: Magnus Heidenreich, Gregor Macleod, Magnus Lawson & Harris Pearce , coxed by Sam Cordiner
• Women’s Junior 16 Single Sculls: Zoe Beeson
• Men’s Junior 16 Doubles: Murray Bone & Sam Doherty
• Men’s Junior 18 Single Sculls: Matthew Hughson

Silver: 

• Women’s Junior 14 Double Sculls: Lily Arthur & Gabrielle Topp
• Women’s Junior 15 Double Sculls: Charlotte Arthur & Sophie Sinclair
• Women’s Junior 18 Coxless Fours: Freya Hughson, Maisie Aspinall, Zoe Beeson & Sophia Brew

Grateful thanks to all the parents who stepped in to ferry our troops to the event when our new minibus lost power enroute and had to be returned to the boathouse.

A selection of photos from the day are available to view in the Photo Gallery