Easter Success for Edinburgh at University Championships

The University of Edinburgh won the Scottish Universities Sport (SUS) Rowing Championships title on Easter weekend after a nail biting end to the 2 day regatta at Strathclyde Park in North Lanarkshire.

Going into the penultimate race of the Championships only a few points separated Edinburgh and their close rivals Glasgow for the Victor Ludorum title, but it was the University of Edinburgh that took the women’s 1st 8+ race by 6 seconds resulting in an unassailable lead at the top of the points table.

The two Universities, currently both in preparation for their annual Boat Race fixture on the 7th May, dominated the Championships with nine victories each. Glasgow dominated the men’s races and Edinburgh the women’s, whilst Strathclyde and Heriot-Watt took three event wins each and Robert Gordon one.

Running alongside the Universities Championships on the 8-lane Olympic-standard rowing course, the Strathclyde Park Regatta saw some strong performances from Scottish crews against a UK-wide field.

Aberdeen Boat Club recorded some excellent performances in the open events including a 1-2-3 in the men’s coxless pair. As well as taking gold in the pair, 19-year-old Gary Wilson also won the open single scull from Clydesdale’s Andrew McConnell. The visiting Newcastle University won the ‘blue ribbond’ men’s open eight.

In the women’s single scull, Amanda Larcombe of Glasgow Rowing Club denied local hosts Strathclyde Park Rowing Club a clean sweep of the women’s open sculling events.

Aberdeen Schools Rowing Association won a total of 13 junior events across the weekend including both boys and girls under 18 coxless pairs.  Clydesdale Amateur Rowing Club and George Watsons College achieved the boys and girls ‘double’ in the under 18 coxless quads and coxed fours respectively. The junior sculling titles went to Gregor Hall (Heriot-Watt University) and Rhona Findlay (Glasgow University).

Full results can be found on the Scottish Rowing website.