12th June - British Masters Rowing
Championships
Having looked at the weather
forecast Berwick Rowers packed all
their kit and wet weather clothes
and set off on the long journey to
the British Rowing National Masters
Championships held at the National
Water Sports Centre, Nottingham.
The Championships are becoming a
huge event and this year saw a
record entry with 1033 athletes aged
from 27 to over 80 years taking part
racing on the 6 lane international
course over 1000 meters.
Berwick’s first representation was
Alison Inglis and Hilary Cairns in
Championship B Double Sculls. In
their heat the ladies sculled
steadily and secured second place
which was enough to put them into
the final. After a very long day
the Berwick scullers lined up
against crews from Hereford, Tees,
Broxbourne, X-Press and Weybridge
Alison and Hilary made a good start,
but by the halfway point Broxbourne
had drawn clear water ahead of
Berwick and despite their best
efforts Alison and Hilary had to
settle for a silver medal on this
occasion. Robin Morrison lined
up next in IM3 D single Sculls. In
a very close race all four scullers
were still within 1 boat length of
each other as they came into the
closing stages of the race. York,
Cantabrigian and Thames all made a
dash for the line leaving Robin
still within a length but not close
enough on this occasion. Robin
then teamed up with Harry Black,
Alison Inglis and Hilary Cairns to
compete in mixed C Quad Sculls. As
the rain lashed down Berwick and
Peterborough got attached to the
start pontoons. Both crews made a
fast start and at the half way mark
Peterborough had a slight lead.
Berwick raised the stroke rate twice
in the final 500 meters and despite
closing on Peterborough did not
manage to cross the all important
1000 meter line first. Harry
Black partnered up with Ian Smith in
Championship F Double Sculls. In a
six boat straight final Harry and
Ian had it all to do. Unfortunately
after hitting a lane marker buoy
their rhythm was interrupted with
Maidstone, Walton and Southampton
all capitalising on this slight
interruption to Berwick. Harry and
Ian sculled well in a strong field
but were unable to come back on
level terms. The trip to
Nottingham gives Berwick rowers the
annual chance to compete against the
very best of Masters rowers from all
over the country. All Berwick
rowers are very grateful to Lloyd
Ltd for the use of the van to tow
the boat trailer. Saturday
18th June sees rowing action a
little closer to home with Berwick
hosting their annual regatta at West
Ord. Racing will begin at 11.30am
and continue until 5pm. The club is
very grateful for all the local
sponsorship received without which
it would not be possible to host
this event. Spectators welcome and
refreshments will be available.
21st May - Cambois Regatta
Thanks to the generosity of Nixon
Hire for providing a vehicle to tow
the boat trailer, and Border Tyres
for their generous donation of tyres
for the boat trailer Berwick rowers
were able to make their way to their
neighbouring club Cambois to join in
their centenary celebrations.
Founded in 1911 by local Miners
Cambois rowing club is celebrating
it’s 100 birthday. Berwick
rowers enjoyed some celebrations of
their own. Megan Bell made her
debut in novice single sculls.
Megan put in a fine performance to
win easily over her Hexham
opponent. Megan then joined Berwick
team mate Elvira Drummond and two
friends from Cambois for a composite
quad scull to take on Talkin Tarn.
The Berwick/Cambois crew don’t get
any opportunity to train together
but that was no obstacle for these
young ladies who sculled beautifully
to win by 1 length. Elvira and
Megan then went into their more
usual racing craft to compete in
novice double sculls. Both girls
had now acquired a taste for winning
and despite being pushed hard by
their Cambois rivals they held on to
take their second and third wins of
the day respectively much to the
delight of the watching Berwick
supporters. These young ladies have
worked very hard through the winter
and it is rewarding and inspiring to
see them winning. Alison
Inglis, Hilary Cairns, Michelle Grey
and Sam Seaton competed in Elite
Quad sculls. This newly formed quad
made a steady start and remained
level with their Queen Elizabeth
opponents until half way. From this
point the Berwick ladies used their
strength to pull out a lead which
they extended to 1.5 lengths by the
finish. Chris Robertson and
Elvira Drummond made their debut in
mixed double sculls. The pair had a
good start and gave their Cambois
opponents a close run but the home
water advantage held in Cambois
favour. Chris then took to his
single to race novice single
sculls. Chris is improving race on
race and was in touch with his
Talkin Tarn opponent as they went
under the bridge, however the Tarn
sculler took his chance and lifted
his rate to sneak through and win by
1 length. Jack Davidson having
his very own birthday celebration
took part in J14 singles and Andrew
Cairns was in J12 singles this was
both lads first race in a fine
scull. These boats can be difficult
to keep up right never mind race.
The club was proud to see its
youngest members take to the water
like seasoned pros. They both put
in very creditable performances and
all concerned are sure that with
time and practice both could be
winners of the future.
14th May 2011 - Tees Regatta
The blustery wind conditions that
had prevailed all week on the Tweed
followed Berwick rowers to the Tees
Rowing Club regatta at Stockton
barrage on Saturday. This regatta
attracted a large entry with crews
from all around the North of England
and Yorkshire in attendance. Due to
the strong head wind rowing
conditions remained challenging for
the whole day over the 4 lane 850m
buoyed course. Berwick are
delighted that some younger members
were racing at Tees. Chris
Robertson in J18 and novice single
sculls put in some very creditable
performances in his three races in a
single scull making huge
improvements in each race. Megan
Bell and Elvira Drummond took part
in J18 and novice double sculls.
Megan and Elvira were desperately
unlucky in the final of the novice
event losing out by a mere ½ length
to Yarm School who had the home
water advantage. With the gain in
race experience success will not be
far away for these junior scullers.
Alison Inglis and Hilary Cairns
raced masters B doubles. The ladies
rowed steadily over the early stages
of the race, but challenged the race
leaders Ancholme in the late stages
putting in maximum effort to steal
the win by ½ length with Tees and
Cambois following. Later in the
day Alison and Hilary were back in
their boat facing a strong Tees crew
in the final of Elite double
sculls. After making a great start
the ladies had a slight advantage
but were unable to match the speed
of the faster Tees crew who went on
to take the win by 3 lengths.
Harry Black and Robin Morrison were
representing Berwick in Masters D
single sculls. Unfortunately Harry
broke an oar on the way to the start
so was unable to race, leaving Robin
to line up against Cambois and
Tees. Robin raced in the middle
lane and battle hard into the wind
blowing straight up the course
however the Cambois sculler managed
to overhaul Robin with Tees
following. Robin and Harry then
teamed up with Alison and Hilary in
the well contested master’s C quad
sculls. The Berwick crew took a
comfortable victory in the semi
final to put them into the final
with Tees and Tyne. Berwick made a
quick start and dominated the race
right to the finish taking the win
by 3 lengths.
Berwick rowers are very grateful to
Lloyd Ltd for use of a vehicle and
donation of fuel to pull the boat
trailer.
23rd/24th April 2011 - Strathclyde
Park
The rowing season for Berwick ARC
kicked off with mixed results at
Strathclyde Park Regatta which was
held on Easter weekend. Racing is
held over a multi lane course with
events held over 2000m and 1000m.
Teaming up with Cambois and Tyne to
form a composite Men’s Masters 8
were Alan Robertson and Ian Smith.
Taking advantage of their master’s
handicap over the 1000m course, the
north east crew held on to their
lead throughout, finishing
comfortably to Stirling and Castle
Semple. The Berwick duo later went
on to compete in the Men’s Masters
double sculls against Cambois. With
the handicap to Berwick’s advantage
once again, Cambois were unable to
close the gap, with Berwick taking
the win and a fantastic time of
3:56.43. It was a tough event
for Alison Inglis and Hilary Cairns
in the Women’s Masters double
sculls. Loch Lomond/Strathclyde and
Clyde/Strathclyde had a 9 and 6
second handicap start over the
Berwick crew. Berwick made up some
ground over the crew from Loch
Lomond/Strathclyde but unfortunately
had to settle for third place.
Last on the water for Berwick was
Robin Morrison in Men’s Masters
single sculls. Once again the
handicap system worked against Robin
in the six boat straight final.
Stirling won the event with Robin
finishing in fifth place.
23rd January 2011 - Scottish Indoor
Rowing Championships, Edinburgh
Racing got off to a fantastic start
at this year’s Scottish Indoor
Rowing Championships held at Heriott
Watt University, Edinburgh. Trying
their first attempt at indoor racing
were Andrew Cairns and Charlotte
Seaton in the Junior 11 and Junior 10
distance events. In the 2 minutes
allocated
Andrew Cairns rowed 451m to win a
silver medal and a personal best,
just 11m behind the gold medal
position. Charlotte Seaton was also
awarded a silver medal with a
fantastic effort of 357m. It
was first time too for Elvira
Drummond and Megan Bell in the
Women’s Junior 19 LWT. This is a
difficult event held over 2000m.
Both girls did incredibly well for
their first attempt with Elvira
finishing in 8:56.5 and Megan 9:12.5
with the gold medal going to
Aberdeen Schools Rowing Association.
The afternoon saw the start of the
senior events, with Sam Seaton
competing in the Women’s 30-39 1000m
LWT. Sam got off to a flying start
and led the way to the halfway point
where her opponent from Team Aegon
started to make her move, Sam tried
to pull the lead back but the gold
went to Team Aegon with Sam just 6
seconds behind in 4:13.4.
Double sculls duo Alison Inglis and
Hilary Cairns parted company for the
indoor event to compete in the
Women’s 30-39 1000m HWT. The
pressure was on for Alison Inglis to
defend her 2010 title. Alison led
the race throughout with Falcon RC
hot on her tail, followed closely
behind by Hilary. At the half way
point, Hilary Cairns stormed up to 2nd
place. Alison retained her 2010
title winning gold and a new PB in
3:39.6 and Hilary the silver medal
in 3:44.4 also a new PB. Phil
Craze won a silver medal in the
Men’s 30-39 HWT event in 3:00.7 over
the 1000m distance. Trade’s
four recruit Adam Hardy made his
indoor rowing debut for Heriot Watt
University in the Men’s Student
Fresher 1000m HWT completing the
distance in 3:05.0 and winning a
silver medal. The most
exciting and fun part of the day
were the team events, which
comprised of one rowing machine and
four team members to cover the 2000m
in the quickest time. This is a
frenetic event with multiple change
over’s, so everyone has to be
organised and know exactly what they
are doing. Berwick girls, Alison
Inglis, Hilary Cairns, Sam Seaton
and Elvira Drummond teamed up for
the event with Megan Bell joining
Team Aegon against Clydesdale ARC
and Clyde ARC. There was no
catching Clydesdale but Berwick
managed to hang on to the silver
medal position throughout finishing
in 7:05.8, followed closely by Team
Aegon in 7:10.8 and a bronze medal
for Megan. The final events of
the day were the Men’s and Women’s
Open 500m Sprints. It is a
short distance but very intense.
Alison powered off the start which
put her in 2nd position
with just 2m to spare between her
and the race leader from
Clydesdale. With 150m to go Alison
gave it everything she had left and
managed to catch her much younger
opponent to finish in a dead heat in
1:42.0 and a new PB. Hilary had a
good strong start and first half but
was unable to sustain the rate in
the second half, finishing with a
time of 1:48.1 in a very strong
field. Sam just missed out on a
bronze medal by 1.4 seconds in the
LWT competition with a time of
2.00.5. Both Phil Craze and
Adam Hardy also competed in the 500m
event. Phil finished 4th
equal with his team mate from Team
Aegon in 1:23.2 and Adam finishing 8th
in 1:27.4 out of 24 entrants.
A
fantastic day and brilliant start to
the year for Berwick Rowing Club.
25th September Durham Primary
Regatta
A strong headwind was the order of
the day for Berwick’s new rowers at
the Durham Primary Regatta last
weekend. All coped with the
conditions admirably on the 500
metre course on the River Wear.
First race and first up for Berwick
in a heat of the women’s novice
double scull were Megan Bell and
Elvira Drummond. They steered a
good course against their opponents
from Tees, edging a lead from the
start and gaining a win through to
the next heat against Tynemouth.
Unfortunately, after a good start
from the girls Tynemouth took the
lead and a position into the final.
The girls were back on the water
soon after in the women’s junior 18
double sculls and once again won
their heat against Tees and
proceeded through to the final. The
girls sculled extremely well but it
wasn’t to be with Cambois taking the
win. Jamie Martin and Chris
Robertson won through two heats in
men’s novice double sculls against
Tees and Tyne United to put them in
the final against Tees/Leeds. After
a tremendous performance from the
newly formed double they were out
done by the well drilled crew from
Tees/Leeds. Jamie had a bye through
to the second round of the men’s
novice single sculls against Tees.
A strong finish put him through to
the final against Tyne United. He
pressurised his opponent from the
start and with an excellent course,
Jamie went on to win his first
single sculls event. It was Chris
Robertson’s first single sculling
race in the much contested junior 18
single sculls event. Chris put in
an amazing effort for his first
event but lost out to his more
experienced opposition from Durham.
Jamie and Chris later teamed up with
Megan and Elvira to form a mixed
coxed quad. Sadly though, after a
strong start from Berwick it was not
enough to out do their opposition
from Tyne United. It was Jack
Davidson, Cameron Short, Joshua
Smith and Andrew Cairns first race
together in junior 14 coxed quad
sculls. They have had only a
handful of outings together before
the event and put in a fantastic
effort with the win going to the
more practised crew from Durham.
Jack and Cameron teamed up for the
junior 14 double sculls event.
After a very nervous start, Durham
took the lead, the boys tried to
make up lost ground but Durham went
on to take the win. The boys showed
great determination in their first
races together and enjoyed both
their racing experiences. In
the men’s IM3 single sculls and
masters C/D single sculls Robin
Morrison overpowered his opponents
from Cambois, Hexham and Talkin Tarn
to win two events. Robin teamed up
with Alison Inglis in mixed double
sculls, winning two heats against
Tees and Tynemouth, putting them
through to the final against
Durham/Nithsdale. After a closely
fought race, Durham/Nithsdale took
the lead by a boat length. Alison
competed in the masters B single
sculls taking a win from her Durham
opponent. Andrew Cairns
doubled up with Hilary Cairns in the
parent and child event, both sculled
very well and were beaten by Tyne
United. Last race of the day
for Berwick was a mixed four with
Sam & Neil Seaton, Annette Wilson
and Jamie Martin. A very powerful
start kept the crew level with their
opponents from Tyne United until the
half way point when Tyne took the
lead, winning by a length and a
half. Overall, a fabulous day
filled with new experiences for some
at Durham. Berwick ARC would like
to thank Sam Seaton and Nixon Hire
for the transportation of our boats.
3rd July 2010 Talkin Tarn Regatta
Jamie Martin was first onto the
water taking part in J18 single
sculls. This was Jamie’s first race
of the season and a very creditable
race it was with Jamie only narrowly
being beaten by the well race
experienced Cambois sculler.Jamie
teamed up with Chris Robertson to
race novice double sculls. Jamie
and Chris are a new to racing a
double scull, but in their semi
final race the Berwick lads showed
they meant business by beating their
Tynemouth opponents by 3 clear
lengths. This set up a final
against Queen Elizabeth High
School. Jamie and Chris sculled
beautifully together and led until
the closing stages when perhaps a
lack of experience allowed the Queen
Elizabeth boat to steal the win
right on the line. Unfortunately no
trophy this time but with
performances like this it’s surely
only a matter of time. Jamie
and Chris then teamed up with Sam
Seaton and Alison Inglis to compete
in mixed quad sculls. The crew put
in a sterling performance to finish
2nd behind the home crew
Talkin Tarn but impressively well
ahead of Tees. Alison Inglis
moved from the quad to single scull
where she showed determination over
her Durham opponent and to the
delight of those watching won
masters A/B single sculls. Alison
then moved to the double scull where
she was partnered by Hilary Cairns
in masters B/C doubles. The Berwick
ladies being the younger crew had to
give a 6 second start advantage to
their Tees and Durham opponents.
Alison and Hilary had to work really
hard and it was only in the last few
strokes that they passed Durham to
give them the win by ¾ boat length.
The Berwick rowers would like to
thank Nixon Hire for the use of
their vehicle to pull the boat
trailer.
The
Berwick rowers will now take a break
from their usual training schedule
for the Annual Trades 4’s
competition. The Trades 4’s will
take place on Saturday 21st
August at the boathouse. The Trades
4’s is a fun rowing competition with
crews usually consisting of 1 club
rower and 3 non rowers. Practice
sessions will begin Tuesday 20th
July at the boathouse. Booking is
advisable to allow boats and coaches
to be allocated.
19th June 2010 Berwick Regatta
Berwick rowers took to their home
water on Saturday 19th
June, on the River Tweed at West Ord
for the clubs annual regatta. First
on the Tweed for Berwick were Phil
Craze and Rob Harvey in Masters B/C
double sculls and later in the day
competing in IM3 double sculls
unfortunately losing out to Cambois
in both events. The duo went their
separate ways and took to the IM3
single sculls event. Rob Harvey was
up against a Cambois sculler in the
semi-final but it wasn’t to be Rob’s
day with the heat being won by
Cambois. Phil Craze had a bye
through to the final of the IM3
single sculls, with him also losing
out to the well drilled Cambois
sculler. Making their regatta
debut were Elvira Drummond and Megan
Bell in a semi-final of junior 17A
double sculls against George
Watsons. A tremendous effort was
put in by the girls but not quite
enough against the more experienced
crew from Watsons. One race was not
enough for the girls as they later
went on to compete in the semi-final
of junior 17B double sculls.
Leading from the start against their
Watsons opponents they sculled
consistently but with 250m to go
Watsons saw a chance for the lead,
put their rating up, rowing through
the Berwick duo. Berwick
ladies, Alison Inglis, Kirsten
Cooper, Sam Seaton and Hilary Cairns
were up against George Watsons in
the Women’s Masters B/D Coxless Quad
sculls. Berwick had to give their
opponents a 10 second handicap
start. The ladies settled in to a
strong but comfortable pace, gaining
on their opposition but victory went
to Watsons as the Berwick crew were
piped to the line. It was the
ladies turn to part-company into
various doubles formations. Alison
Inglis joined forces with Kirsten
Cooper, Sam Seaton with Hilary
Cairns in two heats of Women’s
Masters A/B/D double sculls. Giving
their oppositions a 10 second start
the Berwick crews quickly made up
lengths on the Watsons crews,
putting both Berwick crews through
to the final with Alison and Kirsten
being overall winners. Newly formed
double, Rowena Park and Rachel
Thompson in Women’s IM3 saw their
opposition from Watsons take them
off the start to lead by 2 to 3
lengths but they managed to close
their opponents lead to half a
length. In the busy racing
schedule, Hilary Cairns won Women’s
Masters B/D single sculls against
Watsons. Harry Black, Robin
Morrison, Ian Smith and Alan
Robertson in Masters E coxless quad,
the Berwick crew had a tough race
with the win going to Cambois.
Harry Black and Robin Morrison were
up against one another in the final
of Master’s D single sculls. Both
men sculled extremely well on their
home water but Morrison piled on the
pressure and took the win over
Black. Ian Smith and Alan Robertson
took victory against Cambois in
Master’s Vet G double sculls.
Perhaps the most pleasing events of
the day were “New to the Sport”, in
which junior rowers tried their hand
at sculling in the clubs stable
training boats and young adults who
competed in “New to the Sport”
quads. Christopher Robertston,
Pheobe Inglis, Leah Blyth, all of
who have recently taken part in the
clubs “Learn to Row” course, teamed
up with Jack Davidson to race along
side a George Watsons crew giving
them their first regatta experience.
To round the day off with a bit of
fun, coxed quads comprising of a
junior, master, senior and a female
sculler raced in a round-robin “club
dash” event which proved to be very
enjoyable by all who took part.
Berwick would like to thank the
visiting clubs, their sponsors as
without their generous support it
would not be possible to stage their
home regatta. Nixon Hire, Cheviot
Rentals, Lloyd Ltd, Simpsons Malt
Ltd, Sanderson McCreath & Edney, The
Cobbled Yard Hotel, Mr D Davidson,
General Mills (Jus Rol), M & J
Ballantyne Builders, J H Wood, Adam
Douglas Solicitors, Johnstone Press,
C M Mace. Special thanks to the
Lang Family enabling us to hold the
regatta at West Ord.
13th June 2010 British Rowing
Masters Championships, Nottingham
Having enjoyed recent
regional successes Berwick Masters
Rowers made the trip to the Brit
ish
Rowing Masters Championships held
annually at the National Water
Sports Centre Holme Pierrepont,
Nottingham. Harry Black led
the Berwick rowers in Championship D
single sculls. Harry went in heat 2
and found himself in with some tough
opposition. With only 3 out of the
6 racers progressing to the final it
was not to be for Harry but he put
in a good performance and enjoyed
the experience. Alison Inglis
and Hilary Cairns were next on the
course in Women’s Championship B
double sculls. The ladies have had
a successful local season but were
unsure what to expect when competing
at National level. In a 6 boat
final Berwick pressed hard from the
start and by half way over the 1000m
course had a slight lead. This was
all Alison and Hilary needed and
from this point they worked really
hard to extend their lead and claim
the Gold Medal and National Title by
2 seconds from next nearest crew
York/Warrington. Robin
Morrison raced in IM3 D single
sculls. Robin made a strong start
and had a small lead at the half way
stage but the Thames sculler did not
give up and over the second half
pushed Robin into a very well fought
Silver medal position. Ian
Smith and Alan Robertson rose to the
challenge of competing in F and G
double sculls. In the F doubles,
racing younger opponents, they raced
steadily but were pushed into 4th
by the line. After a quick number
change they headed straight back to
the start line for the final of G
double sculls. In a race with
opponents of a similar age they were
back to winning ways, giving them
the Gold medal and National Title by
2 clear lengths. Phil Craze
and Rob Harvey sculled in IM3 double
sculls. The men had a great second
half, challenging for 2nd
position however it was not to be as
their Grosvenor opponents hung on
for the line. Late in the day
Alison Inglis and Hilary Cairns
teamed up with Harry Black and Robin
Morrison to compete in mixed C quad
sculls. In a straight final with
Peterborough, Berwick were down
slightly at 250m however they
remained focused and by 500m were
back on level terms, from here they
pushed their legs hard and drew ¾
length lead as they crossed the
line. This gave Berwick their 3rd
Gold Medal finish of the day and 2nd
Gold of the day for Alison and
Hilary. The Berwick rowers are
extremely grateful to Lloyd Ltd for
the use of a vehicle to take the
boat trailer on its long journey to
Nottingham. Berwick rowers
don’t have so far to travel this
weekend as they host their own
regatta on the Tweed at West Ord.
Racing starts at 10am and should be
a good battle of local competition
with crews visiting from George
Watsons College-Edinburgh, Cambois-
Ashington, Talkin Tarn- Cumbria,
Tynemouth and two Durham Colleges.
29th May 2010 - Tyne Regatta
Saturday
29th May proved to be
another successful trip for Berwick
rowers, as they attended Tyne
Regatta. First on the water for
Berwick were Alan Robertson, Ian
Smith, Harry Black and Robin
Morrison in Masters C/D/E coxless
quad. After some close racing down
the 1200m
course, the Berwick crew pushed hard
for the finish against Tyne United,
Tyne and Hexham to finish in first
place with no masters handicap
needing to be applied, clinching the
first win of the day for Berwick.
Alison Inglis and Hilary Cairns were
up next in women’s Elite double
sculls straight final for the Tyne
Rowing Club “Silver Jubilee Cup”.
The
Berwick duo began rapidly and
continued in this fashion which
meant that by the half way point
they had a clear advantage over
their rivals from Tyne and with a
strong finish secured the second win
of the day for the club. An hour
later, it was back on the water for
the girls as they competed in
women’s Masters A/B double sculls
against Cambois, giving them their
second win of the day. Sam
Seaton and Kirsten Cooper headed to
the start for the women’s IM3 double
sculls against Tyne and Tees. The
newly formed double sculled well and
finished in second place. Sam and
Kirsten then teamed up with Alison
and Hilary in the women’s Masters
A/B coxless
quad. The Berwick crew sculled
competently and kept their opponents
from Tyne on their bows but the more
practised Tyne crew took the win by
clear water. In the Masters D
single sculls event, both Harry
Black and Robin Morrison competed
against Lakeland and Cambois. After
some close racing it wasn’t to be
for the Berwick boys with the win
going to Freeman of Cambois. Alan
Robertson was the final sculler of
the day for Berwick in Masters G
single sculls against Tyne, giving
Berwick another impressive win and
the fourth of the day.
The
Berwick rowers would again like to
thank Lloyd Ltd for the use of a
vehicle to tow the boat trailer.
1st May 2010 - Cambois Regatta
Nine Berwick rowers travelled to
their rowing neighbours at Cambois
on Saturday. The entry from
Berwick consisted of 4 double sculls
and 6 single scullers. Leading
the proceedings for Berwick were
Alan Robertson and Harry Black in
Masters F Double Sculls. The
experienced Berwick double
confidently overcame their Cambois
opponents. This set up an all
Berwick final against Phil Craze and
Rob Harvey. The more experienced
Robertson and Black took a slight
lead from the start but were well
pushed by Craze and Harvey but the
first win of the day went to Alan
and Harry. There was then a
flurry of action for Berwick with 6
single scullers racing within an
hour. Alan Robertson in Masters G
single took the win but was later
disqualified for taking the wrong
arch of the bridge. Robin Morrison
also taking the win but was
disqualified for impeding his
opponent right on the finish line.
Harry Black sculled well but was
unable to repeat his earlier success
in the double going down to Mr
Freeman who had the home water
advantage. Phil Craze and Rob
Harvey both took part in IM3 singles
but both were knocked out by more
experienced scullers despite their
very best efforts. Alison Inglis
sculled in Masters singles but due
to the handicap system had to give
her Durham opponent a 15 second
start. Despite some determined
sculling Alison was unable to make
up such a big deficit. The Durham
athlete went on to win the title
overall. Kirsten Cooper making
her debut paired up with Sam Seaton
in Ladies IM3 doubles. The Berwick
pair gave an impressive first
performance together but were unable
to match their Cambois opponents.
Alison Inglis and Hilary Cairns had
to wait until the end of the day for
their event but it proved to be
worth waiting for. Sculling for the
first time in Elite double sculls
the Berwick duo made a good start
remaining level with their Durham
School opponents at the half way
mark. However a big effort from
this point saw Alison and Hilary
draw clear water and go on to win by
2 clear lengths.
The
Berwick rowers would like to thank
Lloyd Ltd for the use of a vehicle
to tow the boat trailer.
29th April 2010 - Learn to Row
course in association with Sport
Unlimited
5 x
2 hour sessions commencing Thursday
29th April. Wednesday 5th May
Capsize Drill at Swan Centre for
Leisure then Thursday 6th May,
Tuesday 11th May and Thursday 13th
May.
31st January 2010 - Scottish Indoor
Rowing Championships
Three members from
Berwick ARC competed. Phil Craze
was first out for Berwick in the
Men’s 1000m HWT age 30-39 category.
It was a strong field and Phil’s two
main opponents, one from HMS
Vanguard and the other from Marine
Tec University (Russia), taking him
off the start. He made steady
progress and managed to claw some of
the distance back but not quite
enough, finishing with a bronze
medal in 3:01.0. His next race was
the Men’s HWT Open 2000m. This
event was the largest of the day
with 41 all competing for a medal
position. Phil finished 14th
with a time of 6:38.3. Alison
Inglis and Hilary Cairns were up
next in the Women’s 1000m HWT age
30-39 category. This was a
difficult race for both of them as
they normally row together not
against each other. Alison led the
race throughout and finished in the
gold medal position with a personal
best over the distance of 3:39.9.
The silver medal position was hotly
contested but Hilary managed to stay
focused and pulled ahead of her
opponent finishing strongly with a
time of 3:46.6. Alison and
Phil joined team members from AEGON
UK in the men and women’s team relay
events. The event was rowed over
2000m with teams of 4 rowers jumping
on and off as many times as they
like. The men’s team led from the
start with swift and v
ery
well organised change-overs,
overhauling their opponents from
Aberdeen BC and HMS Vanguard to win
the gold medal position. Meanwhile,
the girl’s team did incredibly well,
considering they had only met up on
the day. They battled for silver
medal position with the Inverness
composite crew who were stronger
through to the finish, giving the
girls a justifiable bronze medal.
The last events of the day were the
men’s and women’s Open 500m
sprints. It sounds a short distance
but it is frantic and very intense.
First up was Alison, she powered off
the start which put her in 2nd
position which she maintained
throughout, piling the pressure on
the much younger opponent from
Aberdeen BC. Alison finished with a
personal best of 1:42.5 and the
silver medal position. The
atmosphere was very tense for the
last race of the day. Phil was
again up against some stiff
competition, he put in a tremendous
effort but was no match for the GB
squad rower from Strathclyde
University, finishing in 5th
position in 1:24.3. Overall a
tremendous achievement for all at
Berwick ARC.
