Success at Home International Regatta 2019
The season didn’t end at Henley as 4 of our athletes continued training to represent Scotland at Home International Regatta on Saturday 27th July. The event took place in Strathclyde Park, Scotland.
All four of our athletes took to the Strathclyde waters following an incredibly successful season. The athletes competing had all achieved medals in highly competitive events throughout the year, such as British University Championships, Scottish Championships, and British Junior Rowing Championships. Evidently, the success continued as our rowers brought back 3 gold medals.
Over the last three years there has been a great increase in our rowers representing Scotland. Last year, Saints representation at HIR grew from one to four as some of our Senior Women’s squad qualified for the Scottish team. This year we are incredibly proud that we also had representation from our Senior Men’s Squad.
Following only one year of novice coxing, Holly Bartlett, was integral to this years’ senior teams as she led the senior men down Head of River, BUCS, and later semi-finals at Henley Royal Regatta. It is an outstanding achievement to have watched Holly grow in experience over the last two years; making her an essential part to the W4+ of the Scottish team. Holly was the first of our athletes to compete on Saturday morning, comprised in a boat of Aberdeen and Glasgow University, and St Andrew Boat Club.
Aidan Graham was new to St Andrews in September and has excelled in his performance; having achieved the title of double British Champion just days before HIR. His experience and hard-work earned him a place in JM4- and JM8+. The JM4- was a nail-biting race as the boat placed second, just one second slower than the winners, England. The JM8+ placed second again later that afternoon after an incredibly intense head-to-head race. We cannot wait for Aidan to begin his position as Novice Coach 19-20!
Four gold medals were brought home by Kirstin Giddy and Lydia Theos, who raced in the W8+ and W4-. Having represented the Scottish team last year, we were incredibly happy for our Women’s Senior Captain 19-20, Kirstin, to continue the success. Meanwhile, Lydia only joined our senior women’s squad at the start of the year, and has been part of many wins this season! Kirstin and Lydia together won our first gold medal at BUCS and formed part of the boat that took us to the quarter-finals at Henley Women’s Regatta. We’re excited to see what the next year has in store for the pair.
Congratulations to Team Scotland who won 3 out of 4 trophies with 16 wins! We are exceptionally proud that our four athletes were a part of this. We hope to bring our winning streaks forward to September.
A special mention must also be made to our Director of Rowing, Jordan Stanley, who began training the squads mid-season and by the summer became one of the coaches for the Scottish team; having been recognised for his experience and expertise. Jordan is looking forward to much more saints-representation in the years to come at HIR.
Scottish representation is one of the highest levels that our Boat Club currently competes at. While the strength, determination, and talent is there, our boats are not. Which is why we have launched Project24, to truly attest to the level of rowers are capable of racing at. To help us reach our final goal of only £5000, please support us at:
