As the sun set over a glassy Strathclyde lake on Sunday evening, the rising stars of Scottish women’s rowing make their way home after a tough weekend of tight racing. Rowers and scullers alike raced in 11 categories between J14 and J18. But with the highlight of the Scottish rowing calendar now over, who came out on top?
WJ14
Raced over 1000M, the WJ14 singles was won by Clements of George Watsons College Boat Club. After flying through the initial heats, she went on to beat Johnson of Douglas Academy, and Aspinall of Aberdeen Schools Rowing Association – both of whom won their respective heats.
With an entry of only 5 crews, the coxed quads also raced over the 1000M course and soon revealed Glasgow Schools Rowing Club as the top crew this year. Coming into second place, Castle Semple Rowing Club followed by the A crew from George Watson’s College, whose B crew came in 5th.
WJ15
The J15 Singles entry was better attended, with 8 crews striving for gold, but in the end there had to be just one winner. Having won her heat, Patton of St. Andrews Boat Club took the gold. Claiming the silver was Milne from Glasgow Academy, and after a fantastic win in the J14 singles, the Sculler of George Watsons Boat Club made a second appearance and came away with a remarkable bronze.
In the doubles, four crews entered this year, with George Watsons’ combination placing first, ahead of the crew of Glasgow Schools and Clydesdale who raced for silver and bronze respectively.
For the coxed quads, three crews battled it out, for three medals. A clear 1,2,3 was to be established; and it was. Asserting their dominance over the small field, Glasgow Schools bought it home, followed by the crew from George Watsons’, themselves beating Strathclyde Park who had to settle for bronze.
WJ16
The smallest boat raced for the J16 girls this year, was the double scull. And with 10 entries from top boat clubs, it was destined to be a good few races. In the final the women of Glasgow Academy took away the gold, followed by George Watsons College B crew, and the A crew from Balfron.
The quad category drew in competitors from 5 clubs this year, and raced over a full 2K international standard racing distance, the spectators were in for a treat. Making a clean sweep of the J16 Womens category, Glasgow Academy once again crossed the line first. In hot pursuit were Clydesdale and St Andrew’s Boat Club who towed the trailer home wearing bronze and silver respectively.
Junior Championship Events
The coxless fours turned out to be a side by side race between Glasgow Academy and Aberdeen Schools, and in the end it was to be Glasgow Academy who were to take the win, and leave Aberdeen bathing in the shadow of Glasgow’s trophy cabinet.
In a strange twist, there was a bigger entry for the coxed fours this year – even if this only bought the total number of crews up to 3! But it seems that with or without their cox, Glasgow Academy reigns supreme, Beating St Andrews and Aberdeen over the line.
The quads seemed also to attract a small crowd of boats to the start, with again, only three crews competing. Nevertheless, Glasgow Academy had to find more room to store yet another set of gold medals, after owning the field and beating Balfron and Strathclyde in a straight final.
The girls blue ribbon event seemed to be a replica boat race, with 2 composite crews, from the same two clubs. Glasgow Academy/Glasgow Schools A, were to claim gold, over the B crew of the same composite, meaning Glasgow Academy took home a 6th gold from the weekend’s racing.
Summary
Overall, we have to conclude that there is wining magic in the water in Glasgow, with Glasgow Schools and Glasgow Academy taking home 8 of the available 11 golds. Their dominance was especially evident at the older end of the field, whilst at the younger end George Watsons put in a strong effort, coming away with a solid number of medals. Looking forward to the future, we can only hope the Scottish Championships have a few more entries.
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