Castle Semple Regatta proved to be an excellent hunting ground for Inverness crews. Joseph Wright started the ball rolling with an open water win in J16 Single, closely followed by the Men's Vet B Quad IRC winners Asbjorn Klomp, Kern Toussaint, Robert Gordon and Rob Whitson coxed by Heather Gordon.

Heather switched to a sculling seat and delivered a lesson in sculling to the rest of the J16 Single Sculls field, Sara Johnson came a close second, and together they won the J16 DoubleSculls by a country mile. Later in the day Sara teamed up with Rebecca Setford, Laura Evans-Smith and Louise Dunton to win the R2 Quad Sculls by a good four lengths of clear water.

Neil Wallace and Kern Toussaint were challenged by Asbjorn Klomp and Jim Smillie in their Open Vet B Double Sculls, but Neil and Touss prevailed for the medal. The Inverness Women's Vet Quad Scull (Carla Madigan, Laura Evans-Smith, Rosie Arthur and Susanne Standish-Hunter) had one of the closest races of the day against Strathclyde Park RC, clinching their medal with just three feet.

Rebecca had a near close shave in her J18 Single as she was leaving the jetty and was washed down by a passing motorboat... one of her blades popped out of the gate and floated away! The two rescue boats that rushed to her aid and nearly tipped her in for good, but she remained upright! She qualified for the final and finished fourth. Rebecca and Louise Dunton won their Novice Double Sculls heat and achieved third place in the final in what was by then extremely rough water.

Altogether, Inverness crews won an excellent total of 20 medals with 7 first place finishes !

In the upcoming Scottish Rowing Championships next weekend, a full senior and junior contingent from Inverness Rowing Club will be competing over three days on the 2000 metre eight lane international course at Strathclyde Park in Hamilton.