Inverness Rowing Club Success at Strathclyde Park Regatta
Added on 01 May 2014
Gold medal winning Inverness Open Junior 14 coxed quad sculls crew with their coach Susanne Standish-Hunter
Junior rowers from Inverness Rowing Club triumphed over very windy, difficult conditions at Strathclyde Park Regatta to claim three gold medals all in the Under 14 category. Joseph Wright, who is only 13, stamped his authority on the J14 Single sculls winning by three lengths over Buchanan of Nithsdale and his Inverness team mate, Angus Thomson, who came in third. Wright and Thomson then teamed up to win the J14 Double sculls by five lengths over Aberdeen Schools and George Watson’s College.
However, their most impressive race was the J14 Quad in which Bronya Johnson (14) and Ishana Graham (13) and cox Maya Doughty joined the boys to compete against four boys’ quads. The mixed Inverness crew shot out of the start taking a length lead but by 500m the Lancaster Royal Grammar A crew was almost level. The two quads fought bow ball to bow ball through the middle 500m then Inverness turned on the heat and pulled away to win by a length!
Inverness J14 girls Quad (Bronya Johnson, Ishana Graham, Eleanor Walker, Rachel Seed and Cox Pippa Blackwood) pulled through from 4th place to claim second behind Aberdeen Schools, and Inverness J13 Double, Heather Gordon and Rhiannon Hopcroft, rowed an amazing side-by-side race with Aberdeen Schools Rowing Association all the way down the course to finish 2nd, just 2 seconds off gold.
The Inverness Novice Four – Holly Barnard, Bethany Irvine, Hannah Campbell, Rachael Irvine and Cox Ellie Kenton – racing for the first time in a four – qualified 2nd in their Heat, came 3rd in their semi –final and finished a strong 5th in the Final.
Bethany Irvine and Shona Gilmour raced in the Novice Double for the first time, qualifying 2nd in their Heat, 1st in their semi-final and finishing 3rd in the Final. Bethany followed this by making her debut in Novice Single and achieving 2nd in the Heat and 4th in the Final.
In their first race in a coxless quad, IRC J16 girls Campbell, Barnard, Gilmour and Doughty finished a strong 3rd place only one second behind George Watsons College and four seconds behind Belfast.
IRC Strathclyde Park Results – Saturday 26 April:
W Nov 4+ 2nd (H), 3rd (SF), 5th (F) H Barnard, B Irvine, H Campbell, R Irvine, Cox E Kenton
W J14 2X 3rd (H) B Johnson, I Graham
W Nov 2X 2nd (H), 1st (SF), 3rd (F) B Irvine, S Gilmour
W Nov 2X 1st (H) M Doughty, E Kenton
W J16 4X 3rd (F) H Campbell, H Barnard, S Gilmour, M Doughty
W J14 4X+ 2nd (F) B Johnson, I Graham, E Walker, R Seed, Cox P Blackwood
W J14 2X 3rd (H) B Johnson, I Graham
W J13 2X 2nd (F) H Gordon, R Hopcroft
W LW 1X 5th (F) J Patterson
O Nov 1X 2nd (H), 5th (SF) J Wright
O Nov 1X 3rd (H) A Thomson
O J14 1X 1st (F) J Wright
O J14 1X 3rd (F) A Thomson
O Vet 2X 4th (F) T Baker, S Standish-Hunter
IRC Strathclyde Park Results – Sunday 27th April:
W Nov 8+ 2nd (H), 4th (F) H Barnard, B Irvine, H Campbell, S Gilmour, E Walker, R Irvine, E Kenton, R Wells, Cox M Hunter
W Nov 1X 2nd (H), 4th (F) B Irvine
W Nov 4X+ 4th (H) A Robertson, P Blackwood, R Seed, E Macleay, Cox M Doughty
W J14 1X 5th (H) B Johnson
W J13 1X 5th (F) R Hopcroft
O J14 2X 2nd (H), 1st (F) J Wright, A Thomson
O J15 2X 5th (F) J Wright, A Thomson
O J14 4+ 1st (F) J Wright, A Thomson, B Johnson, I Graham, Cox M Doughty
O Vet 1X 2nd (F) T Baker
Report prepared by – Susanne Standish-Hunter (Coach - Inverness Rowing Club) – Tuesday 29th April 2014