Inverness Rowing Club

UK National Championships

Last weekend, the UK National Rowing Championships took place at the Holme Pierrepoint rowing lake at Nottingham. Belmaduthy scullers Colin Sinclair and his elder brother Alan (who represented Aberdeen University Boat Club) took part in their respective Junior and Under 23 Single Sculls events against a large entry of crews from throughout the UK.
In the very windy conditions on Friday, Colin performed well but missed out on a semi-final place in the Junior Singles event. Alan had kinder conditions on the Saturday and qualified comfortably in second position for Sunday’s semi-final. In the tricky head wind conditions, he narrowly missed out on one of the three qualification positions for the final of the Under 23 Single Sculls event.
Imogen Walsh (Clyde RC), daughter of Inverness Club President Paddy Walsh, sculled exceptionally well in both Lightweight Single and Double sculling events, reaching the final of the double sculling event but just missing out on the bronze medal position.

This coming week sees several Inverness members assisting in the volunteering team for the highly prestigious World Under 23 Rowing Championships being held at Strathclyde Park near Hamilton where racing takes place from Thursday 26th July and continues till finals day on Sunday. National teams from throughout the rowing world will be taking part with some fine racing in prospect over the four day regatta. Also on this weekend is the annual Home International Regatta, this year being held in Cork in southern Ireland where a team of Scottish athletes will on Saturday be competing against athletes from the other three Home Countries.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Vice President - Inverness Rowing Club ) - 23rd July 2007

Inverness RC Members at Henley Veterans Regatta and UK National Championships

Last weekend, Inverness oarswoman Hazel Smith was a member of Double Sculling and Quadruple Sculling crews along with Ailie Ord (Strathclyde Park RC) at the Henley Masters Regatta. After some exciting wins in the preliminary rounds, they reached the finals of both the Veteran C Double Sculls and Veteran C Quadruple Sculls only to narrowly lose out on winning Gold medals by margins of 2 feet and 4 feet respectively after some extremely close racing.
This coming weekend, the UK National Rowing Championships take place at the Holme Pierrepoint rowing lake at Nottingham. Belmaduthy scullers Colin Sinclair and his elder brother Alan (who will be representing Aberdeen University Boat Club) will take part in their respective Junior and Under 23 Single Sculls events against a large entry of crews from throughout the UK.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Vice President - Inverness Rowing Club ) - 18th July 2007

Henley Royal Regatta

Inverness Rowing Club oarsman Alan Sinclair was a member of the Aberdeen Boat Club along with his fellow scullers Peter Shannon (bow), Drew Hendry (No 2) and New Zealander Andrew Crosland (stroke) which took part in the Mens Quadruple Sculls event at Henley Royal Regatta last week.
Coached by the Inverness club’s coach Ian Hunter and encouraged by the skirl of the pipes from the toe path, the Aberdeen club’s first round race on the Thursday was against a crew from Rob Roy Boat Club from Cambridge in which the Aberdeen crew sculled well to record a fine win by a comfortable margin of almost two lengths.
In their quarter final, they held their opponents from Tideway Scullers Club and were neck and neck for the first part of the race. In the exceptionally blustery conditions with a strong headwind blowing, their heavier opponents gradually drew ahead and established a lead which the lighter Aberdeen crew fought hard to overcome but were unable to close the gap over the remainder of the 2112 metre course, their opponents progressing through to Sunday’s final
This coming weekend sees another Inverness oarsperson competing at Henley when Hazel Smith is a member of Double Sculling and Quadruple Sculling crews at the Henley Masters Regatta with high hopes of achieving medal success.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Vice President - Inverness Rowing Club ) - 10th July 2007

Golden Harvest for Inverness Rowing Club

Inverness Rowing Club members again achieved significant success at the two day Scottish Championship Regatta at Strathclyde Park in Hamilton last weekend in variable weather conditions in winning gold medals in a total of nine events – Womens Veteran Coxed Fours, Womens Veteran Double Sculls, Womens Veteran Coxless Pairs, Womens Junior 12 Coxed Quadruple Sculls and Double Sculls, Mens Veteran C and Veteran E Single Sculls, Open Junior 12 Coxed Quadruple Sculls and Mens Open Quadruple Sculls.
On Saturday, the Womens Veteran Coxed Four of Hazel Geddes (bow) and Hazel Smith combined with Aile Ord and Clare Petrie (stroke) of Strathclyde Park RC and Catie Gorton-Philips (cox) of Clydesdale ARC recording a most satisfying 5 length win over a Castle Semple/ Victoria Bridge BC crew. Also on Saturday, Hazel Smith and Hazel Geddes were successful in the Womens Veteran Coxless Pairs as were Adam Geddes and Shaun Hunter who won the Open Junior Coxed Quadruple Sculls in company with their Strathclyde Park RC crewmates Graham Ord and Peter Byrne. Alan Sinclair was a member of the Aberdeen BC crew which won the Mens Quadruple Sculls by a satisfying margin of 5 lengths over crews Castle Semple RC/Clydesdale ARC/Stirling RC and Clyde ARC
Sunday’s wins were recorded by the Womens Veteran Double Scull of Hazel Smith and Ailie Ord (Strathclyde Park RC) who held off the strong challenge of Hazel Geddes and Susanne Standish-Hunter (stroke) to win by one and one half lengths. Alastair Duff had a fine win in Mens Veteran C Single Sculls as did Tom Baker in Mens Veteran E Single Sculls. Great excitement was generated by the wins of Inverness Womens Cadet crews in the Junior !2 events when Rachael Wells and Meghan Hunter convincingly won their Double Sculls event by 5 lengths against crews from Castle Semple RC, Aberdeen Schools and Nithsdale RC and followed that win by winning the Coxed Quadruple Sculls against Aberdeen Schools in company with Inverness member Sarah Cameron and Emma MacDonald and Emma Brander (cox) from Castle Semple RC
Inverness student members also achieved medal success at the Championships with Anne-Marie Bexley from Nairn winning her gold medal in the stroke seat of the Heriot Watt University RC Womens Novice Coxed Quadruple Scull and President Paddy Walsh’s daughter Imogen (Clyde ARC) winning her silver medal in the closest finish of the day in the Womens Novice Single Sculls
Club members performed with distinction in other events. Meghan Hunter narrowly missed first place in her Womens Junior 12 Single Sculls final. John Sharkey was fourth in Mens Veteran C/D Single Sculls (and first Veteran D sculler over the finish line). Mary Clouston sculled well to claim a good second place finish in Womens Veteran C Single Sculls. Colin Sinclair recorded a satisfying performance to achieve third place in Junior 18 Single Sculls behind some stern opposition as well as stroking composite crews with George Watsons College BC members in a number of different events. Duncan Alexander and Ken Andrews qualified well from second place in their heat of the Mens Novice Double Sculls but just missed out on a medal position in the final of this event.

Next weekend on Saturday 23rd June sees the Club taking part in the Thomas Telford Water Festival on the Caledonian Canal when a number of rowing events in the Muirton Basin in Inverness are to be included in the busy programme of activities arranged from approximately 12 noon till 5pm.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Vice President - Inverness Rowing Club ) - 18th June 2007

Aberdeen North East Regatta and British Universities Championships

Inverness Rowing Club achieved success at the Aberdeen North East Regatta last weekend in blustery conditions on the River Dee with Inverness members featuring in two winning crews.
Hazel Geddes and Hazel Smith raced well in the Veteran Double Sculls in beating their opponents from Aberdeen Boat Club by two lengths in the final of this event. In the Veteran Coxless Pairs, they also won their semi-final by two lengths against another crew from Aberdeen Boat Club but were unfortunately disqualified for faulty steering.
With Inverness member Colin Sinclair rowing in the No 4 seat, the Aberdeen University Boat Club’s R2 Eight convincingly won the final of this event by just under two lengths against an experienced Aberdeen Boat Club crew.

Also at the weekend at the British Universities Rowing Championships in Nottingham, Colin’s elder brother Alan and his crew-mate Peter Shannon competing for Aberdeen University in the Double Sculls event qualified for the semi - final with a fine performance recording the fastest time in their preliminary round. Their quest for Gold was thwarted in their semi-final when horrendous cross wind conditions struck the field which saw them fighting all the way to the line but missing out on a place in the final by the narrowest margin of one foot.

The next main season regatta at which Inverness athletes will be competing will be the Castle Semple Regatta which takes place at Lochwinnoch in Renfrewshire on Saturday 19th May when some of the Inverness club’s youngest members will be keen to emulate their winning performances of last season’s visit to this regatta..

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Vice President - Inverness Rowing Club ) - 8th May 2007

Strathclyde Park Regatta – 21st/22nd April 2007

Inverness Rowing Club achieved success and many good performances at the two day Strathclyde Park Regatta in Hamilton last weekend in variable weather conditions in winning a total of five events, - Womens Veteran Coxed Fours, Womens Veteran Double Sculls, Womens Under 12 Quadruple Coxed Sculls and two Scottish Universities Championship events.
In the difficult windy conditions on Saturday, a number of fine performances were achieved by Inverness crews in various events. Colin Sinclair qualified in first place in his semi-final in Novice single sculls sculls and went on to achieve a good second place in the final of this event. He also produced a strong finishing burst in the final of the Mens Junior 18 single sculls finishing just 0.5 seconds behind the second placed finisher.
In Scottish Universities Championship events, Inverness member Alan Sinclair, representing Aberdeen University, achieved success for the third year running in winning the Mens single sculls and with his double sculls team-mate Peter Shannon clinched the Mens double sculls title. Imogen Walsh, daughter of Club President Paddy Walsh, also achieved success as a member of the Clyde RC crews which won both Womens Novice and R2 double sculls events on the Saturday.

Other Inverness wins were achieved in the fairer conditions on the Sunday when the Womens veteran coxed four of Hazel Geddes, Hazel Smith, Carolyn Ward, Susanne Standish-Hunter (stroke), and Shaun Hunter (cox) had a fine five lengths win over an Aberdeen BC crew. Hazel Smith and Ailie Ord (Strathclyde Park RC) combined strongly to win the Womens veteran C double sculls by one length from an experienced Durham ARC combination in the race in which Mary Clouston and Sally Moore finished in third place. Hazel Geddes and Carolyn Ward were narrowly beaten by half a length in their Womens veteran A double sculls by a crew from Clydesdale ARC.

In single sculls, Tom Baker was just piped for first place by less than one second in the Mens veteran E event, Alastair Duff achieved a good third place finish in the Mens veteran B/C event and Mary Clouston achieved a second place in the Womens veteran D/E event. Duff and Baker later combined to achieve fourth place in the final of the Mens veteran D/F double sculls event. In Mens R2 single sculls, Colin Sinclair qualified for the final with a second place finish in his semi-final and achieved a commendable third place finish in the final against some stiff competition.

The Inverness younger junior squad members Sarah Cameron, Jennifer Warwick, Rachael Wells, Meghan Hunter, and Adam Geddes (cox) excelled in the final of the junior 12 coxed quadruple sculls winning by several lengths over a crew from Nithsdale ARC. Meghan, Rachael and Sarah also took part in junior 12 single and double sculling events with commendable performances in both events.

The next main season regatta at which Inverness athletes will be competing will be the the North Eastern Regatta which takes place on the River Dee in Aberdeen on 5th and 6th May.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Vice President - Inverness Rowing Club ) - 23rd April 2007

Aberdeen Eights Head of the River and Aberdeen Universities Boat Race

Saturday 3rd March saw two Inverness eights successfully taking part in the Aberdeen Eights Head of the River on the River Dee. The Inverness Mixed Eight of Hazel Geddes (bow), Ken Andrews, Alastair Duff, Duncan Alexander, Hazel Smith, Tom Baker, Ailie Ord (Strathclyde Park RC), Susanne Standish-Hunter (stroke) and Athol Wallace (ASRA) convincingly won their event category in Division 1 by a margin of 23 seconds against a crew from Aberdeen Boat Club. In Division 2, Andrews, Duff, Alexander (stroke), Baker and Standish-Hunter (coxing) were joined by Roy Sinclair, Greig Fulton, Dave Rothwell and John Sharkey to contest an extremely close Mens Veteran Eights category recording a finishing time of 12 minutes 1 second, 9 seconds faster than their Aberdeen Boat Club opponents but losing out to the higher age handicap allowance which classified the Aberdeen crew as winners. Alan Sinclair, was a member the Aberdeen University Boat Club's R2 Eight which won this event category in the excellent time of 10 minutes 7 seconds, whilst his younger brother Colin teamed up with Aberdeen's Andrew Crossland to record a quick time of 12 minutes 12 seconds in their double scull. Two Inverness oarspersons took part in the Aberdeen Asset Management Aberdeen Universities Boat Races on Sunday 4th March. Hazel Smith was a member of the Robert Gordon University Boat Club's Alumini Eight which had a fine 2 lengths win over their Aberdeen University opponents whilst in the main race, Alan Sinclair was a member of the Aberdeen University Boat Club crew which posted an outstanding new record time of 8 minutes 1 second to convincingly reclaim the trophy which was won in 2006 by Robert Gordon University.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Vice President - Inverness Rowing Club ) - 4th March 2007

TENON LTD INVERNESS EIGHTS AND SMALL BOATS HEAD AND SCOTTISH SQUAD TIME TRIAL ASSESSMENT

An excellent entry of 61 crews was received for the Tenon Ltd Inverness Eights and Small Boats Head which took place in generally dry, sunny and calm conditions on Saturday 19th February on the superb rowing waters of the Caledonian Canal in Inverness. Rowed in two divisions over the 4.5km course, the first race started at 12noon with the second at 2.30pm.

Inverness crews featured in the winners lists. In Division 2, the Inverness womens crew of Hazel Geddes (bow), Cathy Mordaunt , Mary Clouston, Carolyn Ward, Hazel Smith, Mandy Towrie, Susanne Standish-Hunter (stroke) and Meghan Hunter (cox) produced a fine performance in winning the Womens Veteran Eights category in a fine time of 18 minutes 27.84 seconds, with Alastair Duff in Division 2 also winning the Mens Veteran C Single Sculls in an adjusted time of time of 19 minutes 33.40 seconds. Inverness member Alan Sinclair, rowing for Aberdeen University Boat Club, also featured in the winners list with his Eights crew winning the Mens R1 Eights in an excellent time of 15 minutes 23.65 seconds after a tense ding-dong tussle with students from Glasgow University.

Other Inverness crews which performed with distinction were the Mens Veteran Eight which took second place in the Veteran C Eights with an adjusted time of 16 minutes 34.99 seconds and Tom Baker's second place adjusted time of 19 minutes 0.99 seconds in Veteran E/F single sculls. Fastest mens crew of the day was the Mens Open Eight from Glasgow University Boat Club with a time of 15 minutes 21.25 seconds whilst the Womens R1 Eight from Edinburgh University Boat Club was fastest womens crew of the day with a time of 17 minutes 39.98 seconds.

As a prelude to the Tenon Eights event, the Scottish Senior and Junior Time Trial Assessment was held earlier in the day with athletes from as far away as Hereford taking part. Fastest crew in the Time Trial was the Mens Coxless Pair of Alan Sinclair from Belmaduthy and New Zealander Andrew Crossland with an excellent time of 19 minutes 3.65 seconds over the longer 5000 metre course. Fastest womens crew was Elizabeth Crighton from Aberdeen University Boat Club with a fine time of 21 minutes 49.69 seconds in her single scull.

Full Results

Prizes were presented to winning crews by President Paddy Walsh on behalf of event sponsor Tenon Ltd.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Vice President - Inverness Rowing Club ) - 18th February 2007

Tenon Inverness Eights and Small Boats Head/ Scottish Squad Time Trial

Sara Trial / 8s & Small Boats Head - Results up on the Events Page

With Regards to Division Two Results, my sincerest apologies to crews 30 and 31 (AUBC and GUBC respectively) for the mix up in the provisional results.
A copy/paste error led to both crews being given the exact same finish time.
Having audited the files I can confirm that, contrary to the announcements at the presentation, and the printouts provided on the day, AUBC pipped GUBC in division 2.
Apologies again to GUBC in particular.

Report submitted by - Neil Wallace - 17th February 2006

Tenon Inverness Eights and Small Boats Head/ Scottish Squad Time Trial

Next Saturday 17th February poses to be a very busy weekend on the Caledonian Canal in Inverness on the Saturday with the Tenon Eights and Small Boats Head in two divisions, one starting at 12 noon and the second at 2.30pm. Crews from all over Scotland will compete in this event together with mens and womens crews from the home club.
Prior to that at 10am, the cream of Scottish Rowing take to the water in the National Squad Time Trial with Junior and Senior athletes challenging for places in the Scottish team for the forthcoming international regattas during the summer racing season

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Vice President - Inverness Rowing Club ) - 12th February 2007

Scottish Amateur Rowing Association Open Indoor Rowing Championships Gold and Silver Medals for Inverness

On Sunday 11th February, over 300 competitors took part in the Scottish Amateur Rowing Association Open Indoor Rowing Championships which were held at the Timecapsule Leisure Centre in Coatbridge.
Competition was keen in the wide variety of age categories and some excellent performances were recorded, particularly in the younger age groups.
Inverness Rowing Club were represented by the two Sinclair brothers from Belmaduthy with Colin taking part in the Junior 18 section and Alan, a student at Aberdeen University and a member also of Aberdeen University Boat Club, competing in the Under 23 Heavyweight section. Colin produced a personal best time of 7 minutes 2.2 seconds securing his Silver medal with his strong finishing burst, whilst Alan also finished strongly in his event but narrowly missed a medal position with a satisfactory time of 6 minutes 34.4 seconds.
Also taking part from Inverness in the Mens over 40 section was Rick Wells who put up a sound performance in recording a time of 7 minutes 8.5 seconds against some highly competent opposition. His daughter Rachel outshone her Dad in the Womens Junior 12 event in which she convincingly won her Gold medal with a distance of 515 metres in the 2 minute race. Sarah Cameron also took part in this race finishing with a fine fourth place with a distance of 432 metres. Rachel also later achieved a creditable 2nd place finish against much older opposition in the Womens Open Lightweight event

Next Saturday poses to be a very busy weekend on the Caledonian Canal in Inverness on the Saturday with the Tenon Eights and Small Boats Head in two divisions, one starting at 12 noon and the second at 2.30pm. Crews from all over Scotland will compete in this event together with mens and womens crews from the home club. Prior to that at 10am, the cream of Scottish Rowing take to the water in the National Squad Time Trial with Junior and Senior athletes challenging for places in the Scottish team for the forthcoming international regattas during the summer racing season

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Vice President - Inverness Rowing Club ) - 12th February 2007

Dublin Head of the River 2007

The two Inverness Rowing Club crews which travelled to Dublin last weekend for the annual Dublin Head of the River Race on the River Liffey on Saturday provided a distinctly International flavour to the proceedings, both on and off the water.
Arriving in the Irish capital, both crews took to the upper reaches of the Liffey on the Friday to familarise themselves with the conditions and make necessary adjustments to the equipment which had been kindly loaned to them by the Old Collegians Boat Club and the An Garda Siochana College Rowing Club. A brief foray into the Guinness Storehouse to discover the age-old brewing traditions of this famous amber liquid was followed by a short tasting session in the rooftop Gravity Bar from which 300 degree views of the city and the surrounding countryside were enjoyed.
An early night was had by all in preparation for the energetic activities of the morrow.

Saturday dawned bright and cold with a crisp hoare frost covering the grassy banks of the upper reaches of the River Liffey.
Both crews arrived at the boathouses in good time to make final adjustments and preparations for the day's event which started off with a coxes briefing meeting shortly after 9am. The men's crew cox Thomas Prag carefully considered the variety of instructions provided which were to be of significant assistance in steering his crew over the course which would involve passing through a total of thirteen bridges of differing configurations, and received suitable encouragement from his crew in negotiating the tricky portage over the cascading weir on the route to the starting line right in the middle of the city. The women's crew had the benefit of an experienced cox from the host club and joined their male colleagues in the marshalling area beside the world famous O'Connell Street Bridge
By start time at 11.30am, crowds had gathered to support the crews in the bright midday sunshine on the walkways and bridge parapets of the riverside. The Inverness men's crew stroked by Neil Wallace with Colin Sinclair, Duncan Alexander, Ken Sinclair, John Sharkey, Dave Rothwell, Ken Andrews and Roy Sinclair in support was superbly coxed over the 3.7 km course by Thomas Prag (wearing suitably Scottish headgear) and reached the finishing line in 14 minutes 52 seconds narrowly missing second place to the crew from host club Old Collegians Boat Club.
The women's crew stroked by Susanne Standish-Hunter, ably supported by Ailie Ord (Strathclyde Park RC), Hilary Cook (Sons of Thames RC), Hazel Smith, Beth West (Sons of Thames RC), Mary Clouston, Cathy Mordaunt, Hazel Geddes and Kevin Towey (cox from Old Collegians Boat Club) also had a fine race to cover the course in 15 minutes 22 seconds and in doing so became the fastest crew in their event category.
Both crews and their supporters took time to relax and refresh themselves after their exciting experience on the water and later enjoyed the buzz of Dublin night life before travelling back to Inverness at the end of a most enjoyable weekend - across the water.
Next weekend sees the Scottish Indoor Rowing Championships taking place at the 'Timecapsule' in Coatbridge on Sunday11th February when the club will be represented by the Sinclair brothers in respective Junior 18 and Under 23 event categories.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Vice President - Inverness Rowing Club ) - 6th February 2007

Dublin Head of the River 2007

Two Inverness Rowing Club crews travel to Dublin this weekend for the annual Dublin Head of the River Race which is to be held on the River Liffey on Saturday 3rd February.
Both mens and womens eights have been training for this event since last November and are looking forward to the race with keen anticipation of a successful trip over the Irish Sea. Training has been conducted under the strict, experienced eye of coach Ian Hunter and has been stepped up over the past month to hone his athletes for the challenges of the many Irish crews, the tidal surges of the Liffey and the many historic bridges which characterise this famous stretch of water which passes through the middle of Dublin.
Crews and their supporters travel over to Dublin to have a preliminary outing on the Friday to familiarise themselves with the course prior to the race which starts at 11.30am on the Saturday.

Report submitted by - Roy R Sinclair ( Vice President - Inverness Rowing Club ) - 28th January 2007

Club News

UK National Championships

Inverness Highland 2007 Hawco Sprint - Sat 18th August

Inverness RC Members at Henley Veterans Regatta and UK National Championships

Henley Royal Regatta

Golden Harvest for Inverness Rowing Club