Junior Inter Regional Regatta – Nottingham 20th April
This is the first year that Scotland were invited to attend the Junior Inter Regional Regatta and 2 Inverness athletes were selected for the squad, following their excellent results at the Inverness Head in March. Both did extremely well in what was a new experience for them with Sam Roxburgh finishing in 12th in the J16 single and Shay Hammock taking bronze in the J15 1x A Final (2nd boats), just missing out on silver one 100th of a second.
Beach Sprints GB Trials & English Beach Sprint Championships – Bournemouth 27-28th April
Heather Gordon has been taking to the choppier waters of the beach sprint world, competing at a number of sprint regattas that have been held throughout the UK. Most notably she placed fourth in the GB trials that were held in Bournemouth and followed that up with a third place in the English Beach Sprint Championships that were held the following day.
Scottish Spring Regatta 27-28th April
A large Inverness contingent headed south for what was the first multi-lane regatta of the season for many of them. The weather smiled and the water was a lot less challenging that we have come to expect at Strathclyde Park.
Great performances on the Saturday saw Inverness take home silver in the J14 1x (Shay Hammock), narrowly squeezed out of the gold position, gold and bronze in the Novice 1x (Sam Roxburgh and Victor Atkinson) and a strong 4th in a hard fought final of the WJ15 4x with Hannah McManus taking a seat in a composite crew with members of Stirling RC.
Sunday was busy for both the juniors and the seniors who joined in the fun. Lots of experience was gained throughout the club with a number of first time races at a multi-lane regatta and those that competed in singles over 1000m on the Saturday stepping up to the 2000m course on the Sunday. Notably Sam Roxburgh came away with a bronze in the J16 1x. It was the turn of the J14 doubles next, and somewhat mixed fortunes with Felix Latham and Wilbur Grant unfortunately capsizing after tangling with a buoy (although dealing with the situation admirably) and Robin Roxburgh and Shay Hammock storming through their heat and final to take a convincing gold. The two crews then combined to take a well earned silver in the J14 4x+ with Hannah McManus coxing.
For many of the seniors competing it was the first time racing in a side by side regatta and although no medals were to be making their way back up the road with them, lots of experience was gained which will stand them in good stead for upcoming events. A special mention must also go to the junior, Jessica Douglas, who traveled all the way down just to cox the senior crews. Now everyone is looking forward to the rest of the regatta season.