Performance rowing programme

With access to some of the finest beaches in the country, top-class training facilities, highly experienced professional coaches, and an established Coastal rowing programme in partnership with Scottish Rowing, St Andrews offers an unrivalled opportunity for talented student rowers to progress to international level in the Olympic discipline of Beach Sprints.

The University of St Andrews has been at the forefront of Beach Sprints in Scotland and has been working closely alongside Scottish Rowing to develop a Coastal Rowing Performance Centre at East Sands in St Andrews, with joint ambition for creating a world class training and events venue, building towards Commonwealth and Olympic Games over the coming years.

The University was one of five new GB Coastal Sculling Academies accredited by British Rowing in November 2023, which were established following the inclusion of Beach Sprints at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

The Academy, supported by Scottish Rowing and led by specialist Beach Sprints Pathway Coach Iain Docwra, will support and facilitate athletes looking to represent their country, in addition to providing an environment for rowers from other disciplines to start their coastal rowing journeys.

Scholarships are available to rowers already competing at a high level and who believe they have the necessary attributes to be part of a performance sculling programme whilst studying for their degree in St Andrews.

The unique setup in St Andrews provides the foundations for potential international athletes to build and develop their performance in coastal sculling whilst studying for a world-class degree.

Find out more

• Rowing programme

  The University’s Performance Sculling Programme is led by Director of Rowing Lewis McCue and enjoys a close partnership with Scottish Rowing and the GB Coastal Sculling Academy.

  Athletes on the programme benefit from access to a high-performance training environment, interaction with national and international athletes, and support from coaches and other staff employed by British and Scottish Rowing, enabling them to develop at both flat-water and coastal sculling.

  Through the programme we aim to provide a pathway for rowers to develop their skills and compete at national and international level.
  Athletes on the performance sculling programme at St Andrews get access to a full support package including:

  • Training as part of a GB Coastal Sculling Academy programme – currently the only one hosted by a UK university and the only one in Scotland
  • Professional coaching from a team of world-class coastal sculling coaches
  • Opportunity to attend national training camps and competitions (heavily subsidised) in Scotland, UK and worldwide in partnership with Scottish Rowing
  • Dedicated sport specific Strength & Conditioning sessions
  • Access to an in-house Sports Therapist and physiotherapy support
  • Access to world class training facilities and specialist coastal sculling fleet – Saints Sport and East Sands Beach
  • Benefit from the input of support services and expertise from sportscotland Institute of Sport
  • Leadership programme
  • Personal development workshops
  • Scholarships

• Competition

  The club is aiming to be a highly competitive entity in both Scottish Rowing and the wider UK university rowing scene. Results have seen a huge improvement in the last couple of years and continue to follow an upward curve. We are consistently the highest ranking non-GB funded programme in Scotland. We regularly send athletes to represent Scotland at HIR each summer. Outstanding performances recently include our first gold medals at BUCS Regatta, breaking the top 50 at WEHORR, winning the Medium Academic Club Pennant at HORR and semi-finalists and the furthest-progressing Scottish crew at Henley Royal Regatta. We are also a British Rowing Coastal Sculling Academy, reflecting our ambition to become a leading programme for offshore rowing and Beach Sprints.

  

  British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) championships

  Alongside Henley, British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Regatta is a pivotal event in the Saints Rowing calendar. Every year sees consistent and impressive improvement in the competitive performance of the Club at BUCS. The Club, in recent history, has had multiple medal finishes and A Finals appearances in both Men’s and Women’s events, in pairs, fours and singles, including a win in both Men’s and Women’s Intermediate pairs in 2019.

  WEHoRR and Head of the River

  Two of the world’s largest Head Races in London feature on the Club’s annual racing calendar. Despite our comparatively small size, the Club has had tremendous success at Men’s and Women’s Tideway over recent history. Every year since 2015, the first VIIIs have broken Club records with the Senior Women breaking the top 50 in 2018 and the Men’s 1st VIII+ finishing 63rd in 2019, winning the Medium Academic Club Pennant in the process.

  Henley Women’s and Henley Royal Regatta

  Every summer we send athletes to compete at the prestigious Henley Women’s and Henley Royal Regatta. In recent years we have had crews progress to the quarter finals of Henley Women’s, and at HRR have seen crews progress through rounds of the Prince of Wales and in 2019 our PA 4+ reached the semi finals.

• Flat-water training facilities

  

  Lochore Meadows Country Park

  Loch Ore provides 1.4km of beautiful open water in central Fife, and consistent and predictable training conditions all year round; it is small enough to allow for easier coaching, yet large enough that all our crews are able to train at once.

  A 45-minute drive from St Andrews our water-training base is a beautiful place to row, but also provides the perfect location from which to expand the club, in terms of both the quality and quantity of boats representing the University.

  The Club has a growing fleet, including our new Filippi 8+, and top quality boats of all sizes.

  Lochore allows the Club consistent and frequent training conditions, despite its smaller size, and this is supplemented by trips and training camps across Scotland and further afield to give access to larger expanses of water.

  

• Coastal training facilities

  

  East Sands Beach, St Andrews

  East Sands Beach is now established as one of the best locations in the country for Beach Sprints and is home to our Coastal Rowing programme, including our fleet of coastal boats.

  With the East Neuk enjoying a unique microclimate that consistently ensures this part of Fife is one of the driest parts of the country, coupled with the favourable geography of the coastline, and proximity of amenities provided at East Sands Leisure Centre, St Andrews offers an unrivalled year-round training and racing venue for Coastal Sculling.

  With easy access to the water from the harbour, or directly from the beach, it provides suitable access to the North Sea in all conditions year round.

  East Sands is one of the premier coastal rowing venues in the UK, and has hosted several national Beach Sprint Competitions and training camps for national teams, including:

  • inaugural Home Internationals Regatta (HIR) Beach Sprints Championships (August 2022)
  • inaugural Scottish Rowing Beach Sprints Championships (May 2024)
  • British Rowing Beach Sprints Championships (August 2024)

  

• Performance centre

  The University Sports Centre is the main land training base for athletes during the week, and provides students at St Andrews with access to some of the best sports facilities in Scotland.

  Senior athletes will attend up to six land sessions a week, with ergometer, cardiovascular and Strength and Conditioning training all taking place in bespoke facilities.

  Performance Suite

  As part of the performance programme our athletes are afforded access to sport specific specialist strength and conditioning coaching within the University’s top class Performance Suite – a dedicated strength and conditioning gym that provides a private space for the performance Senior squad to train undisturbed. Sessions are led by expert Strength and Conditioning accredited coaches who have a wealth of lifting and coaching experience and have written plans for athletes competing at the highest level in Scotland, UK and on the European circuit.

  Athletes have access to a wide range of additional indoor and outdoor sports facilities at Saints Sport, which are available all year round.

  Indoor facilities

  • dedicated performance suite
  • modern, spacious gym
  • exercise studio
  • four-court sports hall
  • new technical climbing wall
  • eight-court arena
  • four-court indoor tennis centre

  Outdoor facilities

  • 13 grass pitches
  • full-size floodlit 3G synthetic pitch
  • sand-dressed synthetic pitch
  • four tennis courts
  • additional multi-sport grass pitches
  • multi-sport courts