Lossiemouth Coastal Rowing Club’s junior crew celebrate first-ever medal success at Skiffie Fest on Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough
The growing sport of coastal rowing is making a splash in Moray, led by a medal-winning performance from four teenagers.
The Lossiemouth Coastal Rowing Club headed to Northern Ireland to take part in the Skiffie Fest regatta, and returned with a bronze medal, their first ever at this event.
Junior team leader and crew cox Michael Burns led the team of Cameron Bethell, 14, and Dylan Webster, 15, from Lossie High, and Elgin Academy pair Ruari Mirrison, 16, and William King, 15, to their podium achievement.
“Our juniors continue to practice and improve their technique, coming third against some of the strongest youth teams in the sport followed by their fastest ever two kilometres time in the men’s open race was an astounding result for them,” said Lossiemouth-based Burns.
Lossiemouth Coastal Rowing Club was formed in 2016 with its junior section being established just three years ago.
The club says it offers community rowing for the purposes of fitness, health, reduction of social isolation and competitive rowing against other clubs around Scotland.
The group rows a St Ayles Skiff, one of 220 identical vessels being rowed across the country.
Due to the dedication of team leader Burns, 30 juniors now take to the Moray Firth on a weekly basis to develop their rowing skills.
A spokesperson said: “The juniors develop their fitness and reduce their own social isolation, by developing new friendships, outside of their schools and year groups.
“The coastal rowing conditions in the Moray Firth are often tough, with regular rows taking place in adverse weather conditions, which gives the juniors ample opportunity to develop confidence and resilience.”
A tough challenge faced the crew at Strangford Lough, the largest sea lough in the British Isles as seven other Scottish and Irish crews also took part.
The LCRC crew finished less than 10 seconds behind the winners, much to the delight of crew member Cameron Bethell.
“I was ecstatic we got bronze as it’s a medal in a very difficult regatta,” he said. “We had a really good crew and we worked well together as a team.
“Michael is always supportive and encouraging and makes sure we get the most out of our training – it really paid off in this race.
Team-mate William King revealed how the crew had to overcome adversity during the event, and didn’t realise they had finished among the medals.
“I was a bit nervous due to one of our oars coming off the pin at the start but then we put some power into our strokes,” he said.
“We assumed we got fourth by the end but couldn't tell as it was close. When we got off the pontoon to our surprise we got third. We were very happy overall.”
