Across The Line: McCluskey back with a bang as final preparations take place for JIRR and BUCS
Plus, Swansea paint Wales green and all the other racing news from the weekend
Credit: AllMarkOne
We’re Across The Line! Join us to look back on a thrilling weekend of racing in the UK.
Scottish Rowing Spring Regatta grows by nearly 50%
Strathclyde Park welcomed over 1000 competitors to central Scotland for the annual Scottish Rowing Spring Regatta. Crews from across Scotland and England gathered for two days of racing, which incorporated the Scottish Student Sport Regatta. On the water, the racing was as competitive as ever. Off the water, catering teams, once again, excelled with the infamous Danny Special.
The regatta grew by 26 races to 186 across the weekend to accommodate entries doubling across Eights and Coxless Fours, and women’s crews accounted for 53% of the entry. The growth bodes well ahead of the Scottish Championships, following the news that Henley Royal Regatta has announced that it will formally include it as an event whose results will be used in assessing crews for pre-qualification for the 2026 Henley Royal Regatta.
As mentioned, growth in the Women’s Eights was outstanding, and Saturday’s A Final was a sight to behold as eight boats hurtled towards the tower amidst the rolling waves and white horses. With just under two weeks to go until BUCS Regatta, Edinburgh University BC were fine-tuning their engine on home water. They took victory by just under two seconds ahead of fierce rivals Newcastle University BC, whose women travelled en masse along with plenty of clubs from the North of England. The rest of the field was tight as only 0.35 seconds separated Glasgow University BC and University Rowing Aberdeen for fourth and fifth place, respectively.
Strathclyde Park RC’s Stevie Rose Gildert conquered the Women’s J18 Single Sculls, while George Watson’s College BC’s Harris Fyffe won the Open event. His club mate, Ezra Ferguson, was getting stuck into the big boys, placing second behind Clydesdale ARC’s Ben Parsonage, who dominated proceedings. Perri McCluskey, who has recently switched back to rowing from coaching, practised what she preached to win the Women’s Single Sculls, nearly nine seconds ahead of Glasgow RC’s Caitlin Warnock.
For the first time in as long as this author can remember, this year’s spring regatta welcomed racing in Octuples. The third race on Sunday’s docket saw Lambton RC face off against Aberdeen Schools, and the Granite City enjoyed every stroke as they led right from the get go.
Across the weekend, hundreds of juniors were racing and using the two days to fine tune ahead of this weekend’s Junior Inter-Regional Regatta. Team Scotland will travel to Nottingham, where they will look to defend the Margaret Marshall Cup and the Barbara Wilson Cup.
Swansea sweep Welsh Varsity 2026
Swansea University BC have made history, winning all five races for the first time in the event’s history. Running since 2006, the Welsh Varsity sees Swansea University BC face off against Cardiff University BC, alternating between the River Tawe and the River Taff.
This year’s showdown in Cardiff was one for the ages as Swansea University won the Senior Women’s race for the first time ever, after 18 years of Cardiff dominance. This year’s success marks the third year in a row that Swansea have won the overall series.
View this post on Instagram
Other Events
Danny Williams joins British Rowing as Director of Culture and Integrity
Danny’s appointment is an important step as we work to deliver the frameworks that keep our sport safe.
Danny will provide strategic leadership for safeguarding, integrity, welfare and culture, sitting on our Executive Team and working alongside our CEO Tom Solesbury to develop and deliver the frameworks that keep our sport safe.
Social Spotlight: Catch Tom Solesbury on his tour!
Find out which clubs Tom Solesbury is visiting in your region!Â
View this post on Instagram
That’s all from Across The Line this week!
Got any stories for us? Email [email protected]
