How to make a great World Championships - North Berwick Rowing Club

Ingredients:

Venue – ideally a place of obscurity but somewhere competitors will talk fondly of for years
Crew – preferably one you know – include a cox with a loud encouraging voice
Motivation – Finals to make, Medals to win
Enthusiasm – for winter circuits, freezing cold water at launch and dealing with NE spring winds – you will need buckets of this throughout the winter and the lead up to the championships
Training – over 4 Million metres on Club ergos, add gym and personal machines if that is easier or if you don’t want to deal with the pain cave or torture terrace
Planning – know your lane, and know how you are going to execute the race
Strength – this is both mental and physical – do not underestimate the amount you will need of the former
Confidence – believe in the training you have done
Support – from fellow club members, Family and Friends, and on occasion from your fellow competitors
Boat – 150kg – but just to be safe add 400g
Oars – long and heavy, short and lighter – you choose – but bring 20 just in case
Rudder – make sure it is down – coxes please touch it as little as possible
Fun – know when to pick up a drink, have a laugh and dominate the dancefloor

…and a pinch of luck from the weather gods.

Method:

Take all of the above, mix well, spread evenly across the Club and you are close to being the best Club at the Championships – fourth best to be exact and second best in Scotland.

If you have read updates from other Clubs or you spoke to anyone at the Worlds you will know that the standard of competition is rising all the time and the margins are smaller than ever. So, to make finals with an increasingly bigger field of competitors (there were 57 Clubs in attendance at Stranraer) is an accomplishment on its own. Those who go and win medals (or narrowly miss out) – well you guys are up there as the best or close to the best in the World, and to those who didn’t win medals – you have made the start line, taken your chance and that is to be applauded also – you are within the top 15 Skiffie rowing crews in the World.

It would be easy to go through the days of Worlds and rhyme off the results and call out those who have medalled, but in short, we got through heats, in some cases repechages and made every final of every race we entered and came away with 7 Medals – 2 Gold, 1 Silver and 4 Bronze. We can take real pride in this achievement. It’s simple to underestimate this accomplishment and focus on the medal counts, but it is better summed up by looking at the 50+ Mixed race which demonstrates the real spirit of what we do. This race was won by Golspie and it is hard to put into words the emotion that was seen on the beach after their win. Everyone from all Clubs were elated for them that day, as their Club had won a Gold, and a medal which clearly meant a lot to them all. It was proper lump-in-the-throat stuff, and that’s what it is all about. The perfect recipe of camaraderie, perseverance and true sportsmanship.

Well done everyone for cooking up a great Skiffie World Championships in Stranraer 2019!

Race	Stranraer 2019 Position
60+ Women	3
60+ Men	9
60+ Mix	4
50+ Women	15
50+ Men	8
50+ Mix	12
40+ Women	3
40+ Men	3
40+ Mix	2
Open Women	7
Open Men	1
Open Mix A	1
Open Mix B	6
u40 Men	3
u40 Women	4

World Champions

Mens Open – Dave Davidson, Ian Baird, Clive Rooney, John Irvine, Alice Everett
Mixed Open – Alice Everett, Ian Baird, Clive Rooney, Millie Scott, Lizzie Cowan

Silver Medallists

40+ Mix – Lou Presslie, Dave Davidson, Laura Cram, John Irvine, Jacque Turner

Bronze Medallists

60+ Women – Meg Ennis, Issy Anderson, Sarah Whitely, Anne Hume, Phil Robertson
40+ Women – Lou Presslie, Laura Cram, Jo Drewitt, Claire Simpson, Dave Davidson
40+ Men – Ross McKinney, John Irvine, John Sanderson, Robbie Wightman, Lou Presslie
u40 Men – Gareth Walker, Clive Rooney, Ian Baird, Gregor Davidson, Alice Everett
u19 Women – Kirsty Cram – who rowed for Avoch

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