As the regional crews gather at Berwick Amateur Rowing Club to start the Northern Long Distance Sculling Series, it will be exciting to see which crews will hit the ground running as we begin the season. After last year’s cancellation, 46 boats will be battling it over five kilometres under the Royal Border Bridge, approximately two kilometres from the Scottish Borders.
Junior Crews
Queen Elizabeth High School (QEHS) has a large turnout this year, making up half of the junior crew entries. In the Open Junior 16 coxless quad, QEHS has two entries. These entries are likely composed of the athletes who raced at the National Schools’ Regatta this summer in the A and B finals of the Open Junior 15 coxed four. With less than two seconds separating these crews over 2000m, there is set to be some healthy internal competition for QEHS. Now racing in a coxless category, will the result be down to who can navigate the twists and turns of the river tweed more efficiently?
Another standout athlete racing in the Women’s Junior 15 single (but sadly with no competition) is Olivia Lewis, last year’s British Champion in the Women’s Junior 14 single from Cambois Rowing Club. It will be interesting to compare her time to the more experienced Women’s Junior 16 singles over a longer distance than the one kilometre she is used to.
In the junior doubles categories, no crews have their own competition. However, it may be interesting to compare the times between age groups. Who will be the fastest? Will their younger counterparts overturn the older crews of QEHS and Cambois Rowing Club, or will they use their age and knowledge to their advantage?
Masters/ Open Crews
As more entries are in the Masters and Open categories, we should see more competition between crews.
In the Women’s Masters BEG quad, there is an interesting line-up with two Hexham Rowing Club crews, who will know each other’s racing style very well. They will compete against a composite quad from three boat clubs, including St Andrew Boat Club from up at the Scottish coast. This will prove to be an excellent experience, with the opportunity to race athletes from elsewhere in the country they wouldn’t usually get the chance to compete against.
The Open Masters CD single could also be an exciting race to watch, with three boats battling for the first Long Distance Sculling Series medal. Representing Hexham Rowing Club, Simon Aitkenhead leads this category. Aitkenhead is an experienced athlete who has won gold in the coxless quad at the British Masters Rowing Championships in 2018.
Setting off before Aitkenhead in the Open single is Nick Baird from Durham Amateur Rowing Club. Last year, he won Durham Autumn Head by an outstanding seven seconds over second place, leading us to wonder if he could be up for the win again.
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