Scots crews achieve success at the Commonwealth Rowing Championships
posted by Roy Sinclair - 2 Aug 2010, 9:25 a.m.
Last weekend, crews representing Scottish Rowing secured a sizeable medal haul
at the Commonwealth Rowing Championships in Welland, Ontario, Canada, winning
a total of six golds, four silvers and eight bronze medals over two days of
intense competition.
On Saturday, Alan Sinclair from Belmaduthy in Ross-shire, along with Andy
Holmes from Lochwinnoch in Renfrewshire each won two golds. In the mens
coxless pairs event, they had a ding-dong tussle all the way down the 2000
metre course with the Australian crew, securing their first gold by a margin
of nine hundreds of a second. In the last race of the day, they crossed the
finish line over two seconds ahead of crews representing Wales and England to
claim their second gold medal in the mens double sculls event. Both athletes
in company with Jonny Logan and his brother Chris (both Glasgow RC) won bronze
in the mens coxless fours event, whilst Alan achieved his second bronze medal
in the mens single sculls event.
Other Scots golds were won by the Logan brothers in the mens lightweight
coxless pairs event, with Jonny winning the mens lightweight single sculls in
the second event of the day.
Also on Saturday, other Scots also featured in the medals with Stephanie
McDowall and Polly Swann (both Glasgow RC) winning silver in the womens
coxless pairs and bronze in the womens double sculls, whilst Kelly Limond
(Strathclyde Park RC) won bronze in the womens lightweight single sculls, but
just missed out on a medal position in both the womens lightweight coxless
pairs and womens lightweight double sculls in company with Alex Gemie
(Aberdeen BC).
On Sunday, many close finishes resulted in another successful day for Scots
crews. The Logan brothers had a fine win for gold in the mens lightweight
coxless pairs whilst Chris Logan and Alex Gemie each claimed silvers in their
respective mens and womens lightweights single sculls events. Alan Sinclair
and Andy Holmes struck silver in the mens double sculls whilst Stephanie
McDowall and Polly Swann won bronze in the womens double sculls and were
joined by Kelly Limond and Alex Gemie to win another bronze in the womens
quadruple sculls event. Other bronzes were won by Stephanie McDowall and Andy
Holmes in their respective womens and mens single sculling events, whilst
Kelly Limond and Alex Gemie just missed out on bronze medals in the womens
lightweight coxless pairs.
In the closing event of a highly successful Commonwealth Rowing Championships,
all eight Scots athletes combined well in a highly charged eights event
against crews from the other competing nations to claim the final gold medals
ahead of the Australian and Canadian crews which won silver and bronze medals
respectively. In the overall team result, Canada were first, followed closely
by Scotland in second place, Australia were third with England in fourth place
and Wales in fifth place.
Following these successful championships, the four male members of the
Scottish team plus Stephanie McDowall and Alex Gemie continue their quest for
further success next weekend at the 128th Royal Canadian Henley Regatta at St
Catherines, Ontario.
:D