The Aberdeen Sprint Regatta is a favourite event in the Inverness Rowing Club road-trip calendar and memories of the sun-drenched banks of the Dee sat well in our memories from last years event. With a large IRC contingent heading east it was going to be a busy day of racing. We had a bumper entry of 29 crews racing across all boat categories (it was a very full trailer!) and crews included juniors, getting their first taste of sprint racing, to experienced masters and even generational doubles.
The short, 500 m, format of the Aberdeen Sprints always provides some exciting racing but to add to this IRC came away with a number of great performances and, as a consequence, not an insignificant number of medals. The first of these came from a close race between two Inverness crews in the R2 Mixed 4+ (winning crew: were Harry Ratcliffe, Euan McLeod, Bethany Hickling and Hannah Luke with cox James Luke). Other wins were earned in the Novice 2x (Victor Atkinson and Samuel Roxburgh) and Open J14 1x (Shay Hammock) categories. One of the most deserved of victories was in the Generational 2x with Gary Hunt and James Luke battling through two heats before winning in the final with a convincing lead. A further medal was earned in the Masters 2- (Robert Gordon and Dave Rothwell). Having won their heat against a Masters “A” crew they met their long time and well-known competitors from Aberdeen Boat Club. Due to age differences in the masters crews, the Inverness crew had to win their race by a handicap of at least 10 seconds. The final result was declared a draw when the timing team recorded a difference of only a tenth of a second between the crews, meaning that the medals were shared. Races certainly don’t come much closer than that!
It was a fabulous day and a great experience for all those involved. Thanks go to all the organisers, coaches, drivers and supporters that made the day a huge success.