Novices represent at Scottish Indoor Rowing Championships

Once again the University of St Andrews Boat Club was represented impeccably by our newest set of novice rowers, from both our Mens' and Womens' squads, at the Scottish Indoor Rowing Championships, held in Glasgow at the Bellahouston Sport Centre. this past weekend.

In what is, without a doubt, a highly competitive environment, the slightly daunting experience for many is quickly turned into an opportunity for those competing to test themselves not only on a university level, but on a national one.

In an all-or-nothing 1km race, this was really their chance to demonstrate everything they have learned so far in this semester, and have their first encounter with their future opposition. Much of the early training of our novices takes place on the ergo, and a flat-out indoor race was their time to put all their hard work into practice.

In their first competition against rowers from university boat clubs across Scotland, who the club regularly face in races throughout the academic year, the club was made proud by the efforts of our newest members. James Cockburn and Naomi Wood topped the UStABC Fresher's scores, with 03:30.3 and 03:47.7 respectively, with the rest of the teams peppering the scores lists with the results of their efforts.

Our newly minted novices will go on to compete in future races, when it will be their skills on the water that are to be tested, however this weekend has been a crucial learning curve for both of our novice squads and one that will pay off in their future endeavours.