0.1 seconds decides a Championship title: Women’s solos shine on day two of the British Rowing Beach Sprint Championships
GB Beach Sprint Team rower Laura McKenzie dove to gold in the Women’s Solo, whilst the junior events saw clubmates going head-to-head in multiple gold-medal finals
Clear skies greeted attendees at Knoll Beach, Studland to set up for day two of the British Rowing Beach Sprint Championships. Wind was to be the challenge of the day, as Saturday’s showers gave way to bursts of sunshine and the first time trialists hit the beach to kick off the racing.
Women’s Solos ruled the day, including sub-categories for Student, Junior, J16 and Masters They were joined by the Men’s Open Doubles and the Mixed Junior Doubles, all rounded out by the second edition of the Mixed Coxed Quads.
Coastal Women’s Solos
Laura McKenzie’s famous forward roll onto the buzzer didn’t go to waste at the 2025 Championships as she stormed through to victory representing Glasgow University BC in the Coastal Women’s Solos.
“Laura has hit the beach first – how often have we said that over the years?” said commentator and reigning World Champion cox Ryan Glymond as the final drew to a close.
Catching her breath after retaining her Championship title for another year, Laura said; “It’s brilliant to race here at the national Championships – it’s the top of the domestic racing, so to just finish off here, I’m super thrilled. Next I have the European and World Championships in Solo, so still a way to go this year. To anyone who wants to give this a go – just do it, and keep coming back.”
The bronze medal final was competed between Meg Hewison of Molesey BC and Natacha Searson of Jersey BC, both of who had won gold medals the day before in the Coastal Women’s Doubles and Coastal Mixed Doubles. Searson took the bronze. Laura finished ahead of competitor and friend Heather Gordon of Inverness RC, who took home the silver medal.
Coastal Women’s Student Solos
The A Final of the Coastal Women’s Student Solo was one of the closest races of the competition. Neck and neck from go to the buzzer, it came down to Lara Brittain of Fishguard and Goodwick Jemima RC (a student at Loughborough University BC) and Caitlin Lockey of Christchurch RC (Oxford Brookes University BC). Lockey hit the beach marginally ahead of Brittain, but the Welsh sculler’s line meant her run was shorter.
It came down to 0.1 second, and it wasn’t until the umpire (having conferred with the timing team) approached the competitors, still catching their breath on the sand after two identical dives to the buzzer, that Lara knew she’d won gold.
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Coastal Women’s Junior and J16 Solos
It was double trouble in Final 1 of both the Coastal Women’s Junior and J16 Solo, as clubmates faced off against each other in the race for gold.
In the Junior event, it came down to Lucy Whiteley and Olivia Hodgson of RGS Worcester BC. Lucy and Olivia were teammates at the 2024 World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals and doubles partners at the 2024 Coupe de la Jeunesse Beach Sprints, where they won gold. Racing against each other in Studland, it was Olivia who won, just 0.2 seconds ahead of Lucy in silver. Bronze went to Zara Gray of Lymington ARC.
For the J16 event, an incredible performance from two Hartpury University and College BC athletes saw them face off against each other for gold. Rosie Reynolds and Phoebe Asquith won gold in a double together at this year’s Junior Inter Regional Regatta, and Rosie won gold in a single at the British Rowing Club Championships in July. This time it was Phoebe’s turn to take the gold medal, with a straight line back to the beach landing her on the sand before her clubmate – where she waited with open arms to catch Rosie as she sprinted first to the buzzer, and then to hug her best friend.
“This is our last time racing together before Rosie goes to St Edwards next year,” Phoebe told us as they held hands in their post-race interview. “I’m really going to miss her!”
Molly Cartwright-Tickle of Lymington ARC rounded off the medals with bronze.
Coastal Women’s Masters Solo
Three competitors raced in the Masters event. Llanion Warriors RC fielded Bryony Jones, who won the British Coastal Championships’ masters last year. Bryony led out the time trial, followed by Marta Geater-Piekarska of City of Cambridge RC and Eleanor Burke of Exeter RC (who won bronze in the Coastal Women’s Doubles alongside her daughter on Saturday).
Bryony won gold with a significant lead over Marta, who battled a tough row like a champion and put on a brilliant sprint to the beach to take silver. Eleanor won her second bronze of the weekend.
Coastal Open Doubles
The Coastal Open Doubles crashed onto the beach, with 5 out of eight competitors having previously won medals at World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals from 2022 to 2024 – including three reigning World Champions. If one thing was for certain, it was going to be a series of high-quality races.
Coastal Mixed Junior Doubles
Thomas Biddle (Southsea RC) and Olivia Hodgson (RGS Worcester RC) have both had an incredible run in Beach Sprints this year, with Olivia topping the Junior Women Leaderboard for the Four Nations Series and Thomas finishing in second place for the Junior Men. They teamed up to win gold in the Coastal Mixed Doubles, racing against Hexham’s Emily Lunt and Bradford ARC’s Edwin Van Lopik, who won silver.
Bronze went to a composite of Gracie Janes from Hartpury University and College BC, and Max Roughton from Marlow RC.
Coastal Mixed Coxed Quads
6 crews took on the brand new challenge of Mixed Coxed Quads at the British Rowing Beach Sprint Championships. From the entries came a full crew from the Isle of Wight’s Shanklin Sandown RC, naming themselves the ‘Wight Vikings’ as they lined up for their first race against scratch crew ‘Where’s Wally’ in the quarter finals. A group of juniors from the South Coast GB Performance Development Academy dubbed themselves ‘Lucy’s Legends’, racing alongside another crew of experienced coastal scullers called the Wave Warriors.
One of the most entertaining races of the competition came when a scratch crew including some of the umpires, appropriately called ‘The Umpires Strike Back’, went up against the ‘5 Lions’. Steering issues meant that it truly was a case of slow and steady wins the race, as the Lions headed off course, at pace, in what looked like pursuit of the safety launch – who then had the unique experience of fleeing from an approaching crew. A tight line from the Umpire boat saw them safely back to shore to win the race.
‘Wight Vikings’ won the race for bronze, whilst silver went to the Christchurch / Lymington RC composite of Tom Walker, Brage Wallis, Isobel Wakeley, Caitlin Lockey and Alex Bellion.
Claiming gold were Megan Knight, Thomas Biddle, Olivia Hodgson and Sol Chamberlain-Hyde, coxed by Alex Breese – who they promptly threw into the sea after receiving their medals to top off an incredible day of racing.
Tom Pattichis, Olympic Head Coach for Beach Sprints, was at the competition all weekend, and summed things up at the end; “It’s been great to be here. There have obviously been challenges – we’ve had to move venues and had some really challenging weather. To pull it off and have a great two days of racing has been unbelievable – I can’t thank the volunteers enough. It’s been a proper coastal event, we’ve seen all the skills we need for future Olympians. Mental strength, being able to deal with the rough speed conditions – it’s had everything. There are so many ways to get involved in beach sprints, from racing to volunteers – and you get to spend the day on the beach.”
The 2026 British Rowing Beach Sprint Championships will take place 5-6 September. Want to get involved? Click here to find out more about beach sprints, and start your preparation now!
