Celeste
September 2021
President’s Welcome
Welcome to this summer edition of Celeste! For the first time in over a year we are delighted to be able to share some race results with you, after a long winter of training at home and under restrictions. May 2021 saw a return to crew boats up in Scotland, and despite this change in restrictions coming over a month after English clubs were able to do the same, our athletes who stayed up in Edinburgh over the summer have once again delivered a strong set of results. June and July saw many of our athletes racing over the border at Durham Regatta, Marlow Regatta and BUCS Regatta, with our women's’ squads then staying down south for Henley Women’s Regatta. The end of July saw the first Scottish event of the season, the ‘Lochdown Regatta’, with three crews then continuing on to Henley Royal Regatta. There has also been plenty of success elsewhere, with several winners at the Blues and Colours awards, and of course Lucy, Maddie and Polly representing Team GB at the Tokyo Olympics! Please read on to find out more about all of the above, and I hope you enjoy this edition of Celeste. As always, please do not hesitate to get in touch with any memories from your time at EUBC - we’d love to continue with our alumni crew spotlights that have been included in previous editions
- Euan Dickerson, President 2021-22
president@edinburghrowing.co.uk
Blues and Colours 2020-21
This season, 13 members of EUBC were recognised by the Sports Union in the annual Blues and Colours awards for their achievements. Dan Baillache and Sara Johnston were also shortlisted for the McTernan Colour of the Year, and Student Coach of the Year respectively. (Photo - British Rowing) Half-Blues: Bella O’Hara, Immy Wolstencroft, Kate Duke, Lizzie Dickinson, Sarah Riches, Tara Grimsley Moore Blues: Euan Dickerson, India Somerside, Jane Hardie, Laura McDonald Colours: Dan Baillache Cameron Blue of the Year: India Somerside Alex Chainey Award for Inspirational Sporting Performance: Lucy Glover
Congratulations to Senior Women’s coach John and his wife Jo Higson on the birth of their daughter Jessica (Jessie). Jessie was born on the 29th of June weighing 8ld 3oz. Mother and baby are said to be doing well and we wish the three of them all the happiness for the future!
Thank you Alumni!
Thanks to donations made to our Alumni Fund, we have been able to invest in the purchase of another former GB Start 2x/- from British Rowing to bolster our canal fleet and support our beginner squad, who this year have shown great success at BUCs, with wins across all categories they raced in.
Marlow Regatta saw success for our Senior Men’s 8+’s, the 1st VIII placing 8th overall in the Championship A final, while the 2nd VIII placed 10th in Tier 2. Two championship 4+’s then raced later in the day, placing 5th and 6th in the A final.
Key Dates for Season 2021/22
While the racing calendar remains uncertain for the upcoming season, we do have dates for some events that the club will be attending in the 1st semester:
• Scottish Rowing Autumn Challenge (Strathclyde Country Park) - 25th/26th September
• Inverness Fours & Small Boats Head - 20th/21st November
• Rutherford Head (Newcastle) - 27th November
BUCS Regatta historic success
Gold Medals:
Men’s Beginner 1 Single
Men’s Intermediate Pair
Men’s Championship Lightweight Quad
Women’s Championship Quad
Men’s Beginner 1 Quad
Women’s Beginner 1 Single
Women’s Beginner 1 Eight
Women’s Beginner 1 Coxed Four
Women’s Beginner 1 Quad
Silver Medals:
Women’s Championship Double
Women’s Beginner 2 Single
Women’s Beginner 1 Single
Bronze Medals:
Men’s Beginner 1 Single
Men’s Championship Pair
Women’s Beginner 1 Single
Men’s Championship Lightweight Double
The Senior Women’s and Men’s, Beginner and Club squads came together for the first regatta of a disrupted year to deliver 9 gold, 3 silver, and 4 bronze medals to place 4th overall in the VL. It was a strong performance for the whole squad after what has been a very tough year for all, arguably the most impressive moment of the weekend was the phenomenal performance given by the beginner squad, in particular the women’s beginners who gave us an all Edinburgh Beginner Single final and then went on to dominate the Beginner Eight, Coxed Four and Quad, winning by huge margins. They proved once again the success of Edinburgh’s outstanding beginner program that is going from strength to strength.
‘Lochdown Regatta’
We delivered a strong set of results on the home water of Strathclyde Park and the medals were as follows:
Gold: W 1x, O 2x, W Club 4x, W 2x, O 8+, Mixed 8+, O2-, W Club 1x, Open Club 1x, O 4x, O 4-, W 4x
Silver: O 1x, Open Club 1x, O 2x, W2x, O 8+, O 2-, O 4-, O Club 2x
Bronze: O 1x, Open Club 1x, W 2x, O 2-, W 2-, O 4-, W Club 2x
These results included us taking all 3 medals in the women’s 2x, men’s 2-, men’s club 1x, men’s 4- & men’s 8+! This was the last full club competition of the season, and I think you’ll agree that this difficult year ended on a high!
It is the end of an era as we have to say goodbye to club president Dan Baillache. Dan joined us in 2017, and has since been a vital member of our executive committee as the 18/19 treasurer and president for the past two seasons, all while working towards his PhD in Medicinal Chemistry. Aside from regularly coxing our women’s top crews, a lot of his work goes unnoticed by those outside of the club’s committee but it has been essential in allowing the club to continue to develop and achieve our goals. Our Deputy Head of Rowing and senior women’s coach, John Higson, had this to say: “Over the past three years, Dan has played a huge role in developing the club from strength to strength. Since his first season with the club he has selflessly devoted what can only be assumed to be all of his ‘spare’ time to make sure the club has continued to grow in performance and depth. Dan will not only leave behind some very big shoes to fill but a key mark in what will become Edinburgh University Boat Clubs history.”
EUBC at the Tokyo Olympics The Tokyo 2020ne Olympics were unlike any before them in many ways; no spectators, social distancing and for the first time ever, three EUBC athletes were competing. Dr Polly Swan, Lucy Glover and Maddie Arlett flew the baby blue flag in Tokyo Bay, each performing incredibly on the highest possible rowing stage. Olympic racing for EUBC was kicked off by Lucy Glover in the women’s quad. After a tight race the whole way down the course for a top two position, the quad narrowly missed out by placing 3rd behind the Netherlands by 1.44 seconds, putting them into the repechage for a second shot at the A final. On Saturday, the pair began their 2020 Olympic journey. This pair that placed 1st in the 2021 European Championships raced comfortably for one of the top three qualifying positions. They placed 3rd behind Australia and the Russian Olympic Committee, placing the crew into the A/B semi-final. The Sunday saw the Women’s Quad race the repechage for the last two spots in the A final. After making a quick recovery from a small crab in the first few strokes, the girls found themselves just 0.28 seconds off the Australian crew in first place. But as Australia moved away from the 1k mark, Italy followed taking the qualifying positions. New Zealand were next to cross the line with GB behind them, placing the GB quad in the B final. On Wednesday, Dr Polly Swann and Helen Glover secured their place in the A final while Lucy’s quad raced their B final. The girls raced well together and held the lead for the entire distance finishing 1st and leaving them 7th overall in the quad category. With this being Lucy’s first Olympics and just after her senior rowing debut, a top 10 finish shows just how much potential she shows on the world stage in the coming years, and we’re excited to see what more she can do! The final of the Women’s pair was an incredible race. The field started off aggressively and held this approach the whole way down the course. Unfortunately, Polly and Helen placed 4th overall, just missing out on the bronze. After making a return from working in the NHS throughout the pandemic, and missing the 2017 and 2018 seasons, this is an incredible achievement for Polly. Maddie Arlett attended the Tokyo Olympics as a spare in the Women’s Double and came first in the spares race! All three competitors have shown the world the talent they have developed throughout potentially the most difficult period possible for an athlete. EUBC are especially proud of all they have achieved.
- Lucy McCoy
International Representation
Aside from representation at the Olympics (see below!), there were several EUBC athletes both at final trials and representing Great Britain earlier this year. At the 2021 European Championships there were three EUBC members racing, with Maddie Arlett placing 5th in the Women's’ lightweight 1x, Lucy Glover taking silver in the Women's’ 4x and Polly Swann winning gold in the Women's’ 2-. World Cup 2 saw Maddie Arlett take 10th in the Women's’ lightweight 1x and alumnus Oli Wilkes take 4th in the Men's’ 2– on his GB senior debut. For the final World Cup regatta of 2021 Jack Burns was selected to race the Men's’ 1x after winning GB final trials, where he finished 13th overall.
GB Trials
We had crews competing at multiple trials regattas over the summer. At Dorney Lake in May Jack Burns won the 1x, with Jane Hardie taking 8th and 2nd U23 in the W1x. Dale Flockhart and Cameron Kemp also placed 11th and 16th respectively. A month later we had more action at Caversham, with James Doran placing 7th and 4th U23 in the 2-, and in the Men's’ 1x Cameron Kemp took 5th and fastest U23 while Matthew Fielding placed 8th and 2nd U21.
Coaching Team
We are delighted to announce that Lewis McCue has been appointed to the coaching team, joining us in time for the start of the 2021/22 season. Lewis brings a wealth of experience as both an athlete and a coach. Based in his native Aberdeen, Lewis represented Great Britain at 5 consecutive Junior and U23 World Championships from 2012-16, winning 2 silver medals, in addition to multiple medal winning appearances for the Scotland Rowing team at both the Commonwealth Rowing Championships and Home Internationals. Lewis moved into coaching and took over as Head Coach at University Rowing Aberdeen, overseeing their development as a Scottish Rowing supported High Performance Programme and subsequent success in helping athletes on the GB pathway as well as at major domestic regattas. We are looking forward to Lewis bringing his knowledge and experience into his new role as lead coach of our Senior Men’s squad, as part of the 4 strong coaching team. The appointment was made possible by the continued backing and ambition of University of Edinburgh Sport, enabling us to continue to provide support for all our athletes, from Beginner to Olympian, to realise their potential. As we welcome Lewis, we say goodbye to Paddy Hudson. Paddy may not have been with us long, but in his time with the Senior Men he proved a valuable and respected member of the team. He played an important part in keeping the squad motivated through lockdown, and laid the foundations for the squad strong performances over the summer. We wish him well in his future endeavours and look forward to welcoming back as a friend and supporter.
- Colin Williamson
Henley Women’s Regatta
The Senior and Novice Women qualified all 7 boats put forward, ultimately losing out to a tough field of competition. On the first day Jane Hardie drew the eventual winner of the championship singles and was knocked out, as was Lily Young who had been bumped up to the championship category after winning BUCS the week before. Novice Woman Mia Freischem raced in the Aspirational lightweight single, losing out to an experienced sculler from St Andrews University. The following day saw the rest of our crews start their campaign. First up was the Aspirational 4x, which unfortunately came up short in their heat against London Rowing Club. Despite losing out, the crew (that only came together in their formation a week before) contained three athletes from the beginner development squad and did incredibly well to make it as far as they did in a field of much more experienced rowers. The championship 4– were racing in a highly contested category and lost out to a well-drilled Newcastle University crew, which was their top ranked crew at the regatta. After her 1st round opponent scratched, Perri McCluskey lost out to the sculler from Leeds Rowing Club in the Championship single. Our Development 4+ delivered a strong result in their heat, beating Bristol City comfortably. They were then back out on the water later that same day for their quarter final, where they were unable to hold an early lead against Oxford University who went on to take the win.
Aspirational Lwt 1x: Mia Freischem
Aspirational 4x: Annelise Goddard, Joanna Green, Lilli Freischem, Robyn Patton
Championship 4-: Iona McCaul, Lucy McCoy, Catriona Taylor, Tara Grimsley-Moore
Championship 1x: Jane Hardie, Perri McCluskey, Lilly Young
Development 4+: Georgie Nesom, Becky Wilmshurst, Clara O’Doherty, Polly Rimell, Lizzie Dickinson
Club squad round up
Considering the year we have had, Club squad put on an impressive show at all three regattas attended this year. First up was Durham regatta, where Club walked away with pots in three events after the two day regatta with wins in the non-champ w1x, open non-champ 4x and open elite 2x. Not long after it was time to head down to Nottingham with the rest of the boat club for BUCS regatta, a first for Club! After an impressive showing in the time trials and semifinals we had three crews make the B finals, the inter 4x and inter 2x both came 11th in their events overall and Lucy Barnard came 10th in her inter women’s 1x. It was also the last event with Joe and Bethany as our Captains and we couldn’t have done this year without them so from the whole squad, thank you. To round up the season we attended Lochdown Regatta. It was another successful weekend for the squad with a gold in the women’s club 4x and the Open Mixed 8+ on the Saturday and a silver for Tom Robinson in his club 1x on the Sunday. I’m so proud of the effort that the Club squad has put in this season and it has shown in our results! We are now beginning to look forward to the next year to carry on in the positive direction we are heading.
— Niamh Rigby
Henley Royal Regatta
This season has been unlike all others, and this year’s Henley Royal Regatta was no exception. Having waited over 2 years since the last edition of the Regatta, our athletes were more than excited for their opportunity to race at this most prestigious event. Racing began at the Qualifying Regatta at Eton Dorney, 4 days before the full regatta. Edinburgh had two athletes, Matthew Fielding and Lukas Nielsen, racing in the Prince of Wales alongside Peter Morgan and Cameron Kemp of Strathclyde Park Rowing Club. They were successfully in the top 8 qualifying boats, and so moved onto the first round. On the first day of the regatta, our Temple 8+ put in a fine performance to comfortably win by 4 lengths over the University of London ‘B’, putting out the fastest time of the day! In their second race, the Temple 8+ again won comfortably against Nottingham University - this time by 1 and a half lengths. This was shortly followed by Edinburgh University and Strathclyde Park Vs Tideway Scullers School in the Prince of Wales. Unfortunately, our Quad came up short by half a length, but put in a very quick time against quality opposition containing several GB athletes, whom proceeded to progress deep into the regatta. We are sure that both of our scullers will be back stronger than ever next season! Finally, Dale Flockhart raced Thames Rowing Club and Radley Mariners in the Visitors Challenge Cup in a composite with London Rowing Club, alongside EUBC alumni James Temple and Matthew Curtis, winning easily. Onto the Friday, where our Temple 8+ raced A.S.R. Nereus, NED. in the last race of the morning session. This Dutch crew got out to a flying start and held a lead of around 2 lengths across the race, with the margin at the finish being 1 ¾ lengths to the Dutch. A.S.R. Nereus then went on to win the Temple Challenge Cup, proving how strong this year’s 8+ from Edinburgh was. Later in the day, in the Visitors Challenge Cup, Dale Flockhart’s crew also came up against the eventual winners of their respective event, in the form of Oxford Brookes University ‘A’. This strong crew was always going to be a tough race, and Brookes’ winning margin was ultimately 2 lengths.
— Cameron Bradley
Temple 8+: Hugo Oglina, Harry Guy, Philip Garnier, Cameron Bradley, James Doran, Laurence Ellis, Henry Pooley, Ben Dickens, Lizzie Dickinson
Prince of Wales 4x: Lukas Nielsen, Cameron Kemp (Strathclyde Park RC), Matthew Fielding, Peter Morgan (Strathclyde Park RC)
Visitors’ 4-: Nathan O’Reilly (London RC), Dale Flockhart, James Temple (London RC, EUBC alumnus), Matthew Curtis (London RC, EUBC alumnus)
Get in touch with EUBC!
Twitter: @EdinburghUniBC
Facebook: @edinburghrowing
Instagram: @edinburghrowing
Email: rowing.alumni@ed.ac.uk
Website: www.edinburghrowing.co.uk