DOUBLE GOLD FOR INVERNESS JUNIORS AT CASTLE SEMPLE REGATTA - Saturday 22nd May 2010

posted by Roy Sinclair - 25 May 2010, 12:56 a.m.

---

Inverness junior members brought home two golds, two silvers and two bronze medals after a long day of racing on Lochwinnoch, south west of Glasgow. Nine junior rowers from Inverness Rowing Club travelled down to Castle Semple Regatta this past weekend.

Meghan Hunter of Inverness RC and Caitlin Horsburgh of Castle Semple RC in the Women's Junior 15 double sculls won their heat and subsequent final very convincingly over George Watsons RC from Edinburgh. They followed this with another impressive win in the Women's Junior 16 double sculls, beating an older George Watsons crew, with Inverness RC's Kirsty Guild and Eilean Mackenzie taking third place.

Rachael Wells achieved a close second place in the W J16 single scull behind Emma Macdonald of Castle Semple, but unfortunately had to scratch from the W R2 single sculls due to a strained forearm. Inverness Veteran scullers Susanne Standish-Hunter and Mary Clouston were placed second and third in the W Vet single sculls race behind Eva Rankin of Loch Lomond,

The Inverness J16 coxless quadruple scull of Guild, Hunter, Wells and Mackenzie was obliged to enter the W J18 event due to no opposition in their age group. Despite a spirited start with their bow briefly in front, a very experienced crew from Clydesdale ARC led the Inverness J16s down the course and they crossed the line second.

This was a first regatta for Inverness novice scullers Lana and Naomi Campbell, Aimee MacDonald and Lily Munro coxed by Shaun Hunter. In their first race, the Women's R2 coxed quadruple scull, stroked by more experienced junior Kirsty Guild, came third behind St Andrew BC and Castle Semple /Stirling University. Their second race in Women's Novice Coxed Quads produced a stronger first 500m in which they jointly led the race for about 200m, although the choppy water proved too much in the second 500m leading to a few mishaps, and they dropped back into 4th place. However, the girls rallied for an impressive finish, tying for 3rd place with another Castle Semple crew.

In their heat of the Women's novice double sculls, Eilean Mackenzie and Lana Campbell tackled the tricky conditions well and rowed through another crew to take fourth place.

The Inter-regional Junior races proved to be a disappointment for Inverness RC as Aberdeen Schools Rowing Assocation withdrew their athletes from competition due to a race schedule clash. This meant the North Team (comprised of ASRA + IRC) did not compete, however Kirsty Guild of Inverness RC was asked to fill a seat in the winning West Regional Mixed J16 eight which won with clear water over the Central Regional crew.

RESULTS:

W R2 4X+ K Guild, A MacDonald, N Campbell, L Munro, S Hunter (cox) 3rd

W J16 1X Rachael Wells 2nd

W J15 2X M Hunter & C Horsburgh (CSRC) 1st

W Nov 2X E Mackenzie & L Campbell 4th

Mix OJ16 8+ West Regional crew with Kirsty Guild 1st

W Vet 1X Susanne Standish-Hunter 2nd

W Vet 1X Mary Clouston 3rd

W J16 2X M Hunter & C Horsburgh (CSRC) 1st

W J18 4X K Guild, M Hunter, R Wells & E Mackenzie 2nd

W Nov 4X+ L Campbell, A MacDonald, N Campbell, L Munro & S Hunter 3rd equal

W Nov 1X Mary Clouston 5th





Written by Susanne Standish-Hunter 24/5/10