A small team of women and junior rowers competed in Renfrewshire over the weekend, returning home triumphant with two sets of gold medals and five silvers. Castle Semple Regatta on Lochwinnoch on Saturday 17th was a wet and windy place to be, and the conditions were choppy and variable.

Top junior performers were Meghan Hunter and Rachael Wells who won the J14 double scull by an almost embarrassing margin (more than 8 lengths!) although they are officially J13. Both girls are part of the Inverness J13 quadruple scull, racing with Sarah Cameron, Adam Geddes (cox) and a new novice in the crew - Kirsty Guild - which challenged Nithsdale RC all the way down the course, to finish just a few metres behind the winners in second place, with Aberdeen Schools RA taking third.

In the J13 singles, both Rachael Wells and Meghan Hunter were pushing hard to catch the leading Castle Semple sculler, taking close second and third places less than 5 seconds apart. Sarah Cameron finished 5th in her single close behind ASRA.

In the J13 double sculls, the Inverness crews took silver and bronze positions while Castle Semple won gold.

In the women's veteran races, Shelagh Lombard and Susanne Standish-Hunter were first over the line in Vet A/B doubles, with Katie Van Exan and Hazel Geddes a close third after Aberdeen BC. These four women teamed up for the Women's R2 coxed quadruple scull where they faced a neck and neck fight with a composite Nithsdale/Castle Semple crew. On the line there was less than a second between them, and the composite prevailed. St Andrew BC was 3rd.

Veteran D scullers, Mary Clouston and Sally Moore came second in the Vet C/D doubles behind a very polished C crew from Strathclyde Park. Mary and Sally also raced in singles but conditions were too choppy and neither one placed in the top group. Mary found the water easier later in the day when she achieved third place in the Novice single behind scullers from Robert Gordon University and Aberdeen Schools.

Hazel Geddes and Katie Van Exan qualified for the R2 doubles final but chose to conserve their energies for the R2 quad - hence no final result.

Both the Inverness men's quad entries had to be scratched due to two crew members being separately injured and unable to compete.

WOMEN
Vet 1X 4th Mary Clouston 5th Sally Moore
Vet AB 2X 1st Susanne Standish-Hunter + Shelagh Lombard
3rd Katie Van Exan + Hazel Geddes
Vet CD 2X 2nd, Mary Clouston + Sally Moore
R2 2X Qual for final but did not race Katie Van Exan + Hazel Geddes
R2 4X+ 2nd Susanne Standish-Hunter, Katie Van Exan, Shelagh Lombard, Hazel Geddes + Adam Geddes
Nov 1X 3rd Mary Clouston

J13 1X 2nd, 3rd, 5th, Rachael Wells, Meghan Hunter, Sarah Cameron
J13 2X 2nd, 3rd,Rachael Wells + Meghan Hunter, Sarah Cameron + Kirsty Guild
J13 4X+ 2nd Sarah Cameron, Kirsty Guild, Rachael Wells, Meghan Hunter, Adam Geddes
J14 2X 1st Rachael Wells + Meghan Hunter

MEN
Unfortunately both Nov and R2 4X+s were scratched and the Vet 4X did not run.
No men attended - Moritz injured his back and Ken Sinclair injured his knee.

Report: Susanne Standish-Hunter (Captain)