On the 28th and 29th of April, a squad of 18 Dundee rowers made their way to Glasgow for the weekend, to kick off the regatta season at Strathclyde Park Regatta! For once the park lent its self to some calmer conditions for the first races of the day. Ross Morrison and Euan McLeod were the first to boat, and despite a strong race, came up short in their heat, losing to the eventual winners and runners up of the open R2 double. Next was the first race with two blades for Alistair Bonsall and Harry Rogerson-Gleave in the Scottish Student Championship beginner double. A quick start off the line put them ahead however they couldn’t quite hold onto this coming in third, a promising first race for the pairing! Sticking with the SSC, which were combined with the regatta, the women’s intermediate 4+; Eleanor Brinkhoff, Hannah Campbell, Katie Canniford, Rosie Bowick COX: Holly Barnard, were next to boat. Up against some tough competition the girls pressed for the whole 2K crossing the line 3/7 just behind Edinburgh and Glasgow; another encouraging result after a great season. The MI8+ were next up, despite pressing hard Glasgow proved too strong pushing them into second place.
Keen to continue their fantastic result at BUCS the women’s beginner 4+; Fiona Lapp, Katie Fisher, Racheal Donnison, Dani White, COX: Holly Barnard had their heads in the game before even boating. Their determination to win proved with the girls giving everything up to the line and coming in first! A great end to the season for this crew and the perfect send off to those leaving the club next year. As the wind conveniently started to pick up, it was time for the singles. In the open novice race Steffan Jones convincingly won his heat and came second in the semi-final putting him into the final and his 4th race of the day. A good race lead him to cross the line in 4th out of 16 overall, a stellar result to mark his improvement over the past year. Making his debut in a small boat was Oliver Bohle in the SSCMB1x. Despite having a sprained ankle and saving a few close capsizes, his true power showed with a second place result. Getting some more race experience was the Womens Novice 4+; despite being a scratch crew the girls rowed well together; something to build on looking towards next season!
Rounding off the first day were the Women’s Novice doubles. In the first heat Eleanor Brinkhoff and Ellie Ghika had a comfortable race placing them second and into the final. The next heat saw Fiona Lapp and Katie Fisher make the switch from sweep rowing. Their technical ability, despite only a month of sculling, showed in also coming second in their heat. The final saw both Dundee boats go off hard from the start, however Brinkhoff and Ghika were able to nudge ahead from the rest of the field, maintaining this through the race coming off with the second win of the day! The other crew placed a respectable 4th out of 11 and with it ending the first day.
Sunday saw another calm day with the water like glass as the first crews got ready to boat. Up first were the novice men; Karim Zwart, Aaron Duff, Alistair Bonsall, Harry Rogerson-Gleave, COX: Laura Speake. After some promising training sessions together the boys were keen to have a good race. Settling into the rhythm well they managed to hold onto third place but just missed out on a spot in the final. Next Euan McLeod and Steffan Jones partnered up to compete in the Nov2x. Despite giving their all they too fell just short of the final qualification, coming in third.
After strong training sessions in the preceding month, the SSCW8+ were keen to show what they were made of up against the top university squads. Unfortunately it wasn’t their day and despite a strong race and moving the boat as a crew, they came in 5th. The women’s R2 doubles were next to race with Hannah Campbell and Katie Canniford in heat 1 followed up by Rosie Bowick and Amelia Powell in heat 2. Both pairings looked good off the start with however the first double couldn’t quite hold on to the competition missing out on the final. The latter duo just pipping Castle Semple to get a spot in the final. Despite racing a category higher the girls still rowed a respectable race getting them 6th place out of 14 boats, a great start for the double; keen to improve on this for future races.
Next Steffan Jones took to his single once again this time for the SSCMI1x. Up against some tough competition from the other Scottish universities and over the longer distance than his novice races, he still showed his strong technical ability in the single, placing him 6th. Rounding off the weekend was the SSCWB2x consisting of Fiona Lapp and Katie Fisher. Keen to add to their medal collection from the previous day the girls went out hard quickly placing them ahead of their competition. Their distance between the next boat grew throughout the race resulting in their win of over 500m, a perfect way to finish of a fantastic weekend. Once again a great regatta organised by Strathclyde Park topped off with a few wins for the club! Looking towards Castle Semple Regatta, with a number of crews keen to add to their wins, coming up in a few weeks time.