At the Aberdeen Sprint Regatta on the River Dee on the 13th of September, Aberdeen Schools Rowing Association crews won a total of 26 events at both Junior and Senior levels.

Almost a clean sweep at Junior level as might have been expected with the only competition being provided by Inverness Rowing Club and St. Andrew Boat Club of Edinburgh, but excellent performances overall by our beginners from the Aberdeen Schools Lottery Funded Dry Start programme and outstanding wins by our older boys and girls against adult opposition indicate strength in depth at all levels within the club and promise well for the season ahead.

At the Home Countries International Regatta in Cardiff on Saturday 26th July, the ASRA Women's Junior 16 Coxless Four - Rosie Morton, Catriona Bain, Iona Riley & Jamie Steel - recorded a resounding victory over the other home nations to win gold for Scotland in the opening race of the regatta. Having dropped the girls from England & Wales by the 1000 metre mark, our girls fought stroke for stroke with a determined Irish select for the remaining 500 metres of the race to run out in the end deserved winners by a length. This was the culmination of three weeks of intensive preparation and competition at the highest level for the girls from Aberdeen. On the 13th July, they were capped for Great Britain in the GB v France Match in Valenciennes and a week later on the 20th July they were winning gold in Women's Junior 16 Coxed Fours & silver in Women's Junior 18 Coxless Fours in Nottingham at the National Rowing Championships of Great Britain. Two days at home in three weeks for arguably the most talented Women's Junior Under 16 quartet in the history of ASRA!

At the National Championships of Great Britain at the weekend Aberdeen Schools Rowing Association came back with a gold and silver medal. Jamie Steel, Catriona Bain, Iona Riley, Rosie Morton and coxed by Emily Geddes won the Women's Junior 16 coxed fours event comfortably in an outstanding row. They led from the start and were not challenged throughout. The same crew then raced in Women's Junior 18 coxless fours and came a solid second placed. The girls will now be travelling to Cardiff to represent Scotland at the Home International Regatta.

Other notable performances included the Men's Junior 14 double scull coming 5th in the final after being seeded a very poor lane due to the prevailing wind and our Junior 18 coxless four who came 6th in the final with a good row. Unfortunately, the two quads were both knocked out in the first round. Although they both had brilliant rows it shows the high standard of British junior rowing.

ASRA at Valenciennes As result of their success at the GB Under 16 Junior Trials on Wednesday 9th July at the National Watersports Centre, Nottingham, four girls from the Aberdeen Schools Rowing Association represented Great Britain at the annual GB v France Match in Valenciennes on Sunday 13th July. Rowing with girls from the prestigious Lady Eleanor Holles School, London, Rosie Morton (Robert Gordon's College), Catriona Bain (Aberdeen Grammar School), Iona Riley (Hazlehead Academy) and Jamie Steel (Harlaw Academy) made up the stroke four in the GB Eight. On the day, the ASRA/LEH composite put up a magnificent performance, rowing stroke for stroke with the French Eight for most of the 1500 metres. They faded however in the last 200 metres sprint to the line and ended up three quarters of a length down on the French in the end. The next time the ASRA quartet will meet up with their erstwhile GB teammates from LEH will be in the heats of the WJ16 Coxed Fours at the National Rowing Championships of Great Britain in Nottingham on Friday!

Congratulations to all at ASRA who racked up an impressive 10 gold medals at the Scottish Rowing Championships 2008 at Strathclyde Park. On Saturday conditions were mixed with sun, rain and wind however the following crews excelled to bring home a medal:

• WJ15 4x+ - Rosie, Rachael, Fiona and Holly coxed by Niall F

• MJ14 4x+ - Blair, Robert, Nicholas and Lewis Mc coxed by Bruce

• WJ16 4+ - Jamie, Iona, Catriona and Rosie coxed by Emily G

On Sunday conditions were a lot more pleasant with sunshine for most of the day. The club managed to win the following races convincingly:

• WJ16 2- Catriona and Rachael

• MJ15 4+ - Atholl, Daniel, Niall R and Blair coxed by Bruce

• MJ154x+ - Atholl, Niall, Daniel and Roblert coxed by Niall F

• MJ16 8+ - Grant, Jonnay, Gary, Atholl, Daniel, Niall, Ollie and Lewis Ma coxed by Lewis Mc

• W Grieve Cup - Morven, Holly, Emily G and Christie D coxed by Emily D

• MJ14 2x - Robert, Blair

• WJ15 4+ - Rosie, Fiona, Rachael and Holly coxed by Emily D

Other notable performances include Iona in WJ16 1x who raced the race of her life to miss out the gold by an agonising 0.1 of a second, the MJ18 4+ who have shown massive improvement this year continued to do so with a brilliant race to come so close behind the mighty Watson's boys and Erin, Emily, Amelia and Bruce in their quad to come 1.4 seconds away from a strong Nithsdale opposition.

Thanks have to go to everyone who helped out with our 32 extra members that day tripped down on Saturday. As always it was great to see a high level of parental support throughout the weekend especially on our return to Aberdeen.

The National Schools Championships at Holme Pierrepont, Nottingham, - scheduled to take place from 23rd - 25th May - were called off half-way through Saturday after 4 Boys' Eights were swamped and conditions were rightfully deemed thereafter to be too dangerous to continue.

This was of course a bitter disappointment for our J18 Schoolgirls' Coxed Four and our J16 Double who had trained so hard for the event and it was left to our younger boys to keep the ASRA colours flying.

On Friday our J14 Coxed Quad (Nic Riddoch, Robert Hamlet, Blair Sorbie & Lewis McCue with cox Emily Geddes) sailed through the processional in 10th place out of 21 and were unlucky in a strong semi-final to lose out on a position in the final by a mere 4.5 seconds - a boat-length in old money.

On Saturday our J15 Coxed Four (Blair Sorbie, Niall Rundle, Daniel McSherry & Atholl Wallace with cox Lewis McCue) claimed a highly respectable 8th place out of 19 in the processional and were looking forward to doing even better in the next round. This however was not to be and the worsening weather conditions compelled the organisers to cancel any further competition at this level and to award the medals according to the places gained in the processional. Our boys ended up 10 seconds short of the bronze medal time.

At the Castle Semple Regatta, Lochwinnoch, on the 17th May ASRA crews won two events.

• Men's Junior 18 Fours: Oliver Hamlet, Lewis Morton, Jonathan Wright & Lewis Masson (cox Niall Ford)) - beating George Heriot's School for the first time this season in a hard fought straight final.

• Women's Novice Coxed Quads: Lauren Moore, Christie Duff, Morven Shaw & Emily Geddes (cox Fiona McKinnon) - our J14 girls (!) beating seven other club crews from Glasgow Academy, St. Andrew Boat Club( Edinburgh), Loch Lomond, Clydesdale, Clyde, Castle Semple & Strathclyde Park.

At the Strathclyde Park Regatta, Motherwell, on the 26th & 27th of April, Aberdeen Schools Rowing Association crews brought home a total of 13 golds over the two days.

Girls

• WR2 Coxed Fours: Rosie Morton, Iona Riley, Lucy Bonnamy & Jamie Steel (cox Emily Geddes)
• WJ 16 Coxed Fours: Rosie Morton, Iona Riley, Catriona Bain & Jamie Steel (cox Emily Geddes)
• WJ 16 Coxless Quads: Rachel Hadjitofi, Iona Riley, Catriona Bain & Jamie Steel
• WJ 16 Doubles: Iona Riley & Jamie Steel
• WJ 15 Coxed Fours: Emily Geddes, Fiona McKinnon, Rachael Hadjifofi & Rosie Morton (cox Niall Ford)
• WJ 15 Coxed Quads: Holly Reid, Fiona McKinnon, Rosemary Morton & Rachel Hadjitofi (cox Emily Geddes)
• WJ 14 Coxed Quads: Emily Geddes, Holly Reid, Christie Duff & Morven Shaw (cox Emily Duff)
• WJ 12 Doubles: Emily Duff & Erin Wyness
• WJ 12 Single Sculls: Erin Wyness

Boys

• MJ 15 Coxed Fours: Blair Sorbie, Niall Rundle, Daniel McSherry & Atholl Wallace (cox Bruce Sorbie)
• MJ 15 Coxed Quads : Robert Hamlet, Niall Rundle, Daniel McSherry & Atholl Wallace (cox Bruce Sorbie)
• MJ 14 Coxed Fours: Nicolas Riddoch, Lewis McCue, Robert Hamlet & Blair Sorbie (cox Bruce Sorbie)
• MJ 14 Doubles: Robert Hamlet & Blair Sorbie

Notable silvers went to our senior girls in Women's Junior 18 Coxed Fours who lost out to a highly rated Strathclyde Park quartet by a nail-biting 1 second and to our Men's J16 Double - Atholl Wallace & Gary Wilson - who finally managed to split the all conquering Watson's College Doubles in the seven boat final of that event.

Congratulations to all who took part, our thanks to the parents and supporters who made the long journey to the Park to support us and once again particular thanks to the parents who rolled up their sleeves and got stuck into the tedious task of trailer unloading at the end of an exhausting weekend's racing. Incidentally we share the concerns of many parents about the length of each day's racing at the SPR and will be writing to SARA with the recommendation that the Uni. Champs. be made a separate event.

At the Aberdeen & NE Regatta on the 19th & 20th April, ASRA athletes racked up a total of 8 open & 10 junior wins against formidable local opposition from Aberdeen University, Robert Gordon University, Victoria Bridge Rowing Club and Aberdeen Boat Club to win the Championship of the Dee outright for the first time since 2004. Our girls once again were responsible for the majority of our open victories.

• Women's R2 Eights: Holly Reid, Fiona McKinnon, Rosemary Morton, Rachael Hadjitofi, Catriona Bain, Iona Riley, Lucy Bonnamy & Jamie Steel (cox Emily Geddes)
• Women's R2 Fours: (Saturday & Sunday) Rosemary Morton, Iona Riley, Lucy Bonnamy & Jamie Steel (cox Emily Geddes)
• Women's Novice Fours: Morven Shaw, Holly Reid, Fiona McKinnon, & Rosemary Morton (cox Niall Ford)
• Women's R2 Sculls: Iona Riley
• Women's Novice Sculls: Catriona Bain
• Men's R2 Doubles: Colin Wallace & Scott Purdie
• Men's R2 Sculls: Colin Wallace

In our ASRA v ASRA races there were a great many close run things. Great preparation for Strathclyde Park Regatta next weekend. Congratulations to winners and losers for providing such an entertaining display of pretty impressive junior rowing. Category winners were:

• Mixed J12 Sculls: Bruce Sorbie
• Mixed J13 Quads: Lauren Moore, Emily Duff, Katy Harrower & Bruce Sorbie
• Women's J14 Doubles: Emily Geddes & Christie Duff
• Men's J14 Doubles: Robert Hamlet & Blair Sorbie
• Men's J15 Doubles: Niall Rundle & Daniel McSherry
• Men's J15 Four: Nicolas Riddoch, Lewis McCue,Robert Hamlet & Blair Sorbie
• Women's J16 Fours: Rachael Hadjitofi, Fiona McKinnon, Catriona Bain & Jamie Steel
• Men's J16 Fours: Blair Sorbie, Niall Rundle, Daniel McSherry & Atholl Wallace
• Women's J16 Sculls: Catriona Bain
• Men's J18 Pairs: Jonathan Wright & Lewis Masson

Grateful thanks as always to all the parents and friends who came along to support our crews.The coaches were also particularly pleased with the way in which our members helped each other off and onto the water without been dragooned into so doing. Well done, ASRA!

On Saturday 15th March at the Scottish Schools Head of the River Race held this year for the first time on the Forth & Clyde Canal between Banknock and Auchinstarry, Aberdeen Schools Rowing Association crews won two divisional pennants.

Rosie Morton (Robert Gordon's College), Iona Riley (Hazlehead Academy), Catriona Bain (Aberdeen Grammar School) & Jamie Steel (Harlaw Academy) coxed by Niall Ford (Aberdeen Grammar School)) won the Women's Junior 16 Coxed Fours event and were the fastest female crew at the head beating the Women's J18 time by 2 seconds and Lewis McCue (Harlaw Academy), Nicolas Riddock (Harlaw Academy), Robert Hamlet, Blair Sorbie & cox Bruce Sorbie (all Robert Gordon's College) won the Men's Junior 14 Coxed Quads event in the fantastic time of 12 minute 35 seconds over the 4 kilometre course to take third place overall.

Boys J14 Quad at the Scottish Schools Head 2008

Our J15 Girls were only 9 seconds behind the winning Heriot's crew in WJ15 and our J15 Boys a disappointing, but not insurmountable 22 seconds behind the Clydesdale composite in their division. Three whole months to Scot. Champs. It's all about commitment between now and then.

On Thursday the 6th of March 2008 the ASRA coaching team hosted the inaugural Aberdeen Inter-Schools Indoor Rowing Championships at the ASRA Boathouse on the banks of the Dee. There was strong competition between Bankhead, Kincorth and Harlaw Academies who had pupils competing in individual S1, S2 and S3 events as well as the team event.

Medal winners were:

S1 Girls

• Gold - Kiera Patterson (Harlaw Academy)

• Silver - Katie Malone (Harlaw Academy)

• Bronze - Bronze - Rebecca Waldie (Kincorth Academy)

S2 Girls

• Gold - Samantha James (Kincorth Academy)

• Silver - Sarah Milne (Kincorth Academy)

• Bronze - Rachel Smart (Kincorth Academy)

S3 Girls

• Gold - Lauren Clark (Bankhead Academy)

Team Event

• Gold - Bankhead Academy

• Silver - Harlaw Academy B

• Bronze - Harlaw Academy C

S1 Boys

• Gold - Elliot Bruce (Harlaw Academy)

• Silver - Ying Huang (Harlaw Academy)

• Bronze - Tomak Okulicz (Bankhead Academy

S2 Boys

• Gold - Peter Gonella (Harlaw Academy)

• Silver - Naful Karlberg (Harlaw Academy)

• Bronze - Murray Urquhart (Harlaw Academy)

S3 Boys

• Gold - Chris Milne (Bankhead Academy)

• Silver - Donald Cruickshank (Bankhead Academy

• Bronze - Jon Barbour (Bankhead Academy)

The team event was nail bitingly close with a strong finish by Bankhead Academy who won the team event in real style!

The overall event was won by Harlaw Academy with 87 points, Bankhead came second overall with 66 points and Kincorth Academy came third with 42 points. The whole competition was a real success with all participants and teachers enjoying the afternoon. This was the first time any of the youngsters had been at the boathouse, so it was a fine chance to show them what all of their efforts on the indoor rowing machines at their schools over the last few months have been working towards. All participants are completing their swim test in the next 2 weeks and commence their 10-week Wet Start immediately after the Easter holidays. Watch this space for an update! The ASRA team would like to thank all three schools for supporting this event and also the many helpers who ensured that the afternoon ran smoothly.

At the Aberdeen Eights Head of the River Races on Saturday 23rd February, again in the absence of any junior opposition ASRA faced, as anticipated, a fierce backlash from the university clubs they had had rather shown up on the Caledonian Canal the previous weekend.

In the first division in the Women's R2 event, Aberdeen University had, as expected, beefed up their crew considerably since Inverness. They had however failed to register the fact with the organising committee, were duly disqualified and had therefore to concede victory in the end to our girls.

Our crew - unaltered from Inverness - Lucy Bonnamy, Iona Riley, Jamie Steel, Catriona Bain, Rachael Hadjitofi, Rosie Morton, Fiona McKinnon & Holly Reid and coxed by Niall Ford - were of course delighted to accept the pot, given the fact that they had shipped a blade twice in the course of the race. In the second division in the Women's Open event, our girls engaged the bank twice on the way up river in what turned out to be a thrilling race, going down finally to AUBC by 4 seconds.

Our boys failed to reproduce the form they had shown in Inverness, but put up creditable performances in both divisions against powerful university opposition in events dominated by the students from Heriot-Watt University.

ASRA turning into a fierce headwind at the railway bridge

At the Inverness Head of the River Race on the Caledonian Canal on Saturday 16th February there was unfortunately no junior opposition for our J18 entries. Both eights however put up excellent performances with the girls ending up 7th overall and the boys 11th out of a total entry of 34.

Our boys - Atholl Wallace, Gary Wilson, Lewis Morton, Jonnay Wright, Lewis Masson, Niall Rundle, Christy Masson, Blair Sorbie and cox Bruce Sorbie - a novice crew with only one R2 aboard - came in with the highly respectable time of 18.59 which beat the winning time of the Men's Novice Eight from Dundee University by over half a minute over the 5K course.

Our girls with 5 Nat. Champs. junior medallists on board - Lucy Bonnamy, Iona Riley, Jamie Steel, Catriona Bain & Rachael Hadjitofi, ably supported by novices Rosie Morton, Fiona McKinnon & Holly Reid and coxed by Niall Ford - would clearly be expected to fare better when compared with their adult counterparts and did not disappoint us as they romped home in some style with a recorded time of 18.35. This time was only bettered by that put up by a fearsome composite eight from Castle Semple, Glasgow Rowing Club, Dundee University & Clydesdale ARC and with it they would have won the WR2 8s section outright and been second in WR1 8s.

A great opener for the 2008 season for both the boys and the girls from ASRA but we must be prepared for a backlash from ABC, AUBC & RGU crews at the Aberdeen Eights Head next week.

At the Scottish Indoor Rowing Championships 2008 held at the Heriott-Watt University, Edinburgh on Saturday 9th February, ASRA athletes racked up a total of 4 gold, 4 silver and 5 bronze medals.

• Individual Gold: Women's Junior 13 - Morven Shaw; Women's Junior 14 - Rosie Morton; Women's Junior 16 - Iona Riley.

• Team Gold: Women's Royal Mile - Lucy Bonnamy; Catriona Bain; Iona Riley; Jamie Steel.

• Individual Silver: Women's Junior 11 - Erin Wyness; Men's Junior 16 - Gary Wilson; Women's Junior 18 Lightweight - Jamie Steel.

• Team Silver: Mixed Junior 15 - Rosie Morton; Fiona McKinnon; Lewis McCue; Chris Milne.

• Individual Bronze: Women's Junior 10 - Katherine Lawrie; Men's Junior 13 - Nick Riddoch; Women's Junior 16 - Catriona Bain; Women's Junior 18 - Lucy Bonnamy.

• Team Bronze: Mixed Junior 15 - Morven Shaw; Emily Duff; Donald Cruickshank; Murray Urquhart

At the Glasgow Rowing Club Head of the River Races on the Clyde on Saturday 24th November, Aberdeen Schools Rowing Association members recorded excellent wins in four boat categories.

• Women's J16 Coxed Fours: Rachael Hadjitofi, Iona Riley, Catriona Bain, Jamie Steel & cox Erin Wyness
• Men's Novice Coxed Quads: Lewis Masson, Lewis Morton, Oliver Hamlet, Gary Wilson & cox Nicolas Riddoch
• Women's Junior 15 Coxed Quads: Erin Wyness, Morven Shaw, Rosie Morton, Rachael Hadjitofi & cox Christy Masson
• Men's J14 Coxed Quads: Niall Ford, Lewis McCue, Robert Hamlet, Daniel McSherry & cox Nicolas Riddoch

Our congratulations to all who braved the extremely cold and wet conditions and did the club proud down on the Clyde.

At the Aberdeen Head of the River Races on Saturday 10th & Sunday 11th November, ASRA crews recorded 4 major category wins against good opposition including crews from Heriott Watt University, Robert Gordon University, Dundee University, Stirling Boat Club and Aberdeen Boat Club.

• Women's R2 Coxed Fours: Lucy Bonnamy, Iona Riley, Catriona Bain & Jamie Steel coxed by Niall Ford

• Men's Novice Fours: Gary Wilson, Lewis Masson, Lewis Morton & Oliver Hamlet coxed by Lewis McCue

• Men's Junior 15 Coxed Fours: Atholl Wallace, Daniel McSherry, Christy Masson & Niall Rundle coxed by Nicolas Riddoch

• Men's Novice Doubles: Gary Wilson & Atholl Wallace

The following crews also won in boat categories where stout opposition was supplied from within our own ranks:

• Women's Junior 16 Coxed Fours: Jamie Steel, Iona Riley, Catriona Bain & Rachael Hadjitofi coxed by Niall Ford

• Men's Junior 16 Fours: Gary Wilson, Oliver Hamlet, Jonathan Wright & Lewis Masson coxed by Katherine Lawrie

• Women's Junior 15 Coxed Fours: Rosie Morton, Laura Smith, Pearl Black & Emily Geddes coxed by Christie Duff

• Men's Novice Coxed Quads: Atholl Wallace, Gary Wilson, Daniel McSherry & Niall Rundle coxed by Katherine Lawrie

• Women's Junior 16 Pairs: Iona Riley & Catriona Bain

• Women's J16 Single Scull: Iona Riley

• Women's Junior 14 Double: Emily Geddes & Holly Reid

• Women's Junior 15 Double: Rosie Morton & Fiona McKinnon

• Men's J14 Double: Robert Hamlet & Blair Sorbie

• Women's Junior 14 Coxed Quads: Holly Reid, Erin Wyness, Christie Duff & Katie Harrower coxed by Daniel McSherry

At the Tees Head of the River Races on Saturday 27th October, ASRA athletes won two category divisions outright. Iona Riley & Jamie Steel won the Women's Junior Under 18 Double Sculls event and were the fastest junior women overall and the Men's Junior Under 15 Quad Sculls event was won by Niall Rundle, Christy Masson, Daniel McSherry & Atholl Wallace coxed by Blair Sorbie.

Lack of familiarity with the river and and failure to study the course warnings issued with the race instructions resulted in three of our crews being disqualified. Iona, Catriona, Rosie & Jamie and cox Robert - for example - recorded easily the fastest time in Women's S4 Coxed Fours only to be robbed of the pots as a result of passing through an inner arch on one of the road bridges.

That apart, promising performances all round however and a lot to look forward to in the season ahead.

At the Aberdeen Sprint Regatta on Sunday 26th August, lively Junior opposition in the form of crews from Castle Semple and Inverness gave notice that they will be a force to be reckoned with this season at J16 and below.

There was also an early warning for our our senior girls - Jamie Steel, Rachael Hadjitofi, Iona Riley & Lucy Bonnamy - who, like last season at this time, went down to Veteran opposition from ABC in the final of Women's R2 Fours. Admittedly they were without the usual services of university-bound Joy Davies on the day, but still we might expect a little more from 3 Under-18 British Champions.

Elsewhere ASRA recorded a total of 9 wins in a variety of boat categories:

• WJ 18 2- : Lucy Bonnamy & Rachael Hadjitofi
• Women's Novice 1x : Lucy Bonnamy
• Men's Novice 4+: Robert Hamlet, Oliver Hamlet, Daniel McSherry, Lewis Masson & cox Bruce Sorbie
• WJ 16 2x : Iona Riley & Jamie Steel
• WJ16 1x : Iona Riley
• MJ 16 1x : Gary Wilson
• MJ14 2x : Atholl Wallace & Daniel McSherry
• MJ 14 1x : Blair Sorbie
• Mixed Invitation Novice 4x : Katherine Lawrie, Katie Harrower, Bruce Sorbie, Robert Hamlet & cox Blair Sorbie

Grateful thanks to all the parents and FPs who came along to support our team and special thanks once more to Alan Bonnamy for his first-class boat marshalling services.

At the Home Countries International Regatta held on Lough Innescara, Cork, on Saturday 28th July, only two boat classes were contested by Scotland's Junior Women - WJ18 4+ and WJ 2-. Aberdeen Schools' R.A. represented Scotland in both.

In the WJ 2- race, British Champions Claire Innes & Maud van den Broeke of England led our Lucy Bonnamy & Joy Davies from the 500 mark and never looked like being caught, but in the race for second place against the Irish Pair from Galway RC and the Welsh from Haberdashers Monmouth, our girls beat both handsomely to the line... but not across it! Unbelievably our girls (both blondes) heard the klaxon, stopped rowing at what was the vaguest of finishing lines and were duly overtaken by the Irish!

In the WJ 4+ race, Lucy & Joy were joined by Jamie Steel, late substitute Catriona Bain for Iona Riley and cox Robert Hamlet and led the race again to 500 metres. There the Irish composite from Cork & Coliaste Iognaid Rowing Clubs put in a massive push and left us playing catch-up the rest of the race. Our girls made repeated heroic efforts to close the gap, but to no avail, finishing however a comfortable second ahead of England and Wales.

The girls were a little disappointed but should not have been. As always they did ASRA proud. Given the amount of travelling they had done between the Nat. Champs. and the HIR, the lack of a real rest period had to catch up with them in the end.

At the National Rowing Championships of Great Britain held at the English National Watersports Centre, Holme Pierrepont, Nottingham from the 22nd to the 24th of July, our senior girls (seen right) - Lucy Bonnamy (17) & Joy Davies (17) - teamed up with Iona Riley (15) & Jamie Steel (15) to repeat their Scottish Championship success and bring home a brilliant Gold in the Women's Junior 18 Coxed Fours event. It is almost a decade since ASRA girls stroked by a certain Morag Emery last won Gold at this level.

Later on Sunday, Jamie Steel & Iona Riley were joined by Catriona Bain & Rachael Hadjitofi to win Silver in Women's Junior 16 Coxed Fours. Both crews were steered to victory by Association cox Robert Hamlet(14).

Our WJ18 crew - with Catriona Bain rowing in place of Iona Riley - has duly been selected to row for Scotland at the Home Countries International to be held next weekend at the Irish National Rowing Centre at Inniscara, Cork. Lucy and Joy will also represent Scotland in the Women's Junior Coxless Pairs event.

Things went rather less well in our sculling races. Our girls could only come 5th in the final of Women's Junior 15 Quads and our J14 boys - Atholl Wallace, Daniel McSherry, Bair Sorbie & Niall Rundle - although they show distinct improvement every time they race - had to fight hard to reach 7th place out of 11 in men's

Junior 14 Quads. The fact that only 5 seconds separated places 4 to 7 indicates how tough the competition is south of the border even at J14 level.