National rowing event moves to Cotswold Water Park
Sunday 20th April saw the BUSA ( British Universities Sports Association) Rowing Sprints Regatta take place at Keynes Country Park in the Cotswold Water Park for the first time. The event, which attracted over 700 competitors involved more than 20 universities from Plymouth to Manchester.
The event was organised by the Wiltshire, Avon, Gloucestershire and Somerset Region (WAGS) of the Amateur Rowing Association. Although the very windy weather leading up to the event meant that full side-by-side racing on the day was not possible, all races were completed on a time-trial basis.
Local teams from Bristol and the University of West England did well with Bristol achieving first places for their Women’s Novice Eights and Men’ Junior Eights.
Although the event was held at Keynes Country Park, its long term destination will be Cleveland Lakes near Ashton Keynes where a 1,500m regatta course is being created with hopes to extend to a full Olympic sized course in the future.
Both Jenny Brown (CEO of BUSA) and Fiona Rennie (Chair of BUSA Rowing) came down to help out on the day. Fiona said ‘We are very appreciative of the support we have had from the Cotswold Water Park Society and the Amateur Rowing Association and delighted that this event has been put on for university students. We look forward to supporting the event in the Cotswold Water Park in the future’.
Regatta organiser and chair of WAGS Phil Clements said ‘organising the event took a lot of hard work but I think the results more than justified the effort, my thanks go out to all the people who gave up their free time to help out’.
Project Director of the Cotswold Water Park Society, Matthew Millett said, ‘we are delighted that this national event has chosen to come to the Cotswold Water Park. I do hope that in years to come we can expand on its success and that it will rightly put the area on the sporting map’.
