Scottish Rowing Championships 2025 – Race Report
Clydesdale ARC athletes delivered a weekend of impressive performances at the Scottish Rowing Championships 2025, held at Strathclyde Park on 8-9th June. Racing in a wide range of events across junior, senior, novice and masters categories, the club came away with a strong set of results – 12 gold medals, numerous podium finishes and A final appearances in some of Scotland’s most competitive fields.
Saturday
A very rainy Saturday made for challenging racing across all lanes. The regatta’s multi-lane format, with progression via time trials and finals, brought together top crews from across Scotland and beyond.
The standout junior result came from Thomas Lowrie and Tom Morrison, who were dominant in the O J18 2-, taking 1st place. In sculling events, Isabel Soyinka finished 2nd in the W J18 1x, while younger juniors Darcey Geddes, Fern Colclough, and Anna Soyinka all competed in the W J15 1x, with Darcey placing 7th, Anna 8th, and Fern 10th (2nd in B Final). The W J16 4- of Geddes, Soyinka, Catie McKendrick (SPRC) and Jaime Stewart also claimed a strong 2nd place, and Isabel Soyinka picked up another win in the W J18 2x with Stevie Gildert (SPRC).
In the senior men’s squad, Frank Murray, Jack Bagley, Lukas Neilsen and Struan Stuart secured a commanding 1st place in the O 4x, and several of those athletes also raced in sweep pairs with strong B Final finishes. On the women’s side, Robyn Patrick placed 7th in the W 1x A Final, having qualified 2nd fastest in the time trial. Veronika Vohnikova and Elle Sutherland made B and D Finals respectively in the same event. In the W 2x, Murray & Patrick placed 5th in the A Final, while Vohnikova & Setford won the B Final. Rebecca Setford also took 3rd in the W Lwt 1x. In the novice ranks, Margaret Maclean placed 3rd in the W Nov 1x B Final, and then went on to come 13th in the W Nov 2x with Ru Somatilaka.
Among the masters, Seamus Keating picked up two 2nd-place finishes – in a composite Mas 4x and composite Mas 2x, while Chris Phillips helped a Castle Semple composite Mas 8+ take 1st place.
Sunday
Sunday brought slightly less wind and rain, Clydesdale crews maintained their momentum with another series of standout results, particularly from the juniors.
The junior highlight of Sunday came in the W J15 2x, where Darcey Geddes and Anna Soyinka took a well-earned 1st place after showing strong form throughout the weekend. The W J15 4x+ (Geddes, Colclough, Lumsden, Soyinka, coxed by Jaime Stewart) also placed 2nd, and Thomas Lowrie picked up a silver in the O J18 1x. Isabel Soyinka, racing in a composite W J18 4+, added another 1st place to her total, and Isabel & Zoe Cochrane (GUBC) had a win in the W J18 2-.
In the lightweight category, Ben Parsonage took an emphatic win in the O Lwt 1x, finishing as the overall fastest single sculler. Frank Murray, Jack Bagley, Lukas Neilsen and Struan Stuart earned a 3rd place finish in the O 4-, and Parsonage added another win in the O 2x, racing with Ashley Cowley (Newark RC). Evgeni Nikolov won the O Nov 1x, and the W Nov 4x+ crews gained further side-by-side racing experience in a competitive field. The W 4x of Murray, Sutherland, Vohnikova and Patrick also claimed a strong 2nd place, capping off a productive weekend for the women’s senior squad ahead of Women’s Henley Regatta.
The club’s masters squads added further medals: Chris Phillips came 2nd in Mas D 1x, Seamus Keating came 2nd in Mas H 1x, and 1st in a composite Mas 4+ (coxed by Margaret Maclean). Jacqueline Irons came 2nd in a W Mas 4x composite with Castle Semple. The men’s Mas 4+ (Johnston, Diamond, MacFarlane, Jones; cox: Lawson) also took 2nd. The W Mas 4x of McCall, Smillie, Toal and Upstill-Goddard finished 3rd.
Table of Results
| O 2- | Struan Stuart & Jack Bagley | 12th |
| O 2- | Lukas Neilsen & Frank Murray | 11th |
| O J18 2- | Thomas Lowrie & Tom Morrison | 1st |
| O J16 2- | Finlay Ward & Hamish Blair | 6th |
| W 1x | Robyn Patrick | 7th |
| W 1x | Veronika Vohnikova | 8th |
| W 1x | Elle Sutherland | 14th |
| W 1x | Lucy Ashton | 15th |
| W Lwt 1x | Rebecca Setford | 3rd |
| W J 18 1x | Isabel Soyinka | 2nd |
| W Nov 1x | Margaret Maclean | 9th |
| W J15 1x | Anna Soyinka | 8th |
| W J15 1x | Fern Colclough | 10th |
| W J15 1x | Darcey Geddes | 7th |
| O Mas 4x | Seamus Keating + Comp | 2nd |
| O Int 2x | Ryan Finnigan & Ben (Simon) Marren | 8th |
| O 4x | Frank Murray, Jack Bagley, Lukas Neilsen & Struan Stuart | 1st |
| O J18 4x | Thomas Lowrie, Tom Morrison, Hamish Blair & Finlay Ward | 4th |
| O Int 1x | Ryan Finnigan | 4th |
| O Int 1x | Evgeni Nikolov | 7th |
| O Mas 8+ | Chris Phillips + CSRC | 1st |
| W J14 1x | Grace Lumsden | 17th |
| W J14 1x | Fern Colclough | 5th |
| W Nov 2x | Ruwanthi Somatilaka & Margaret Maclean | 13th |
| O Nov 4x+ | Claire Wood, Kate Wigley, Carole Barber & Tim Barber, Coxed by Kit Lawson | 7th |
| O Mas 2x | Seamus Keating + Carlow | 2nd |
| W 2x | Veronika Vohnikova & Rebecca Setford | 7th |
| W 2x | Lauren Murray & Robyn Patrick | 5th |
| W J18 2x | Isabel Soyinka & Stevie Gildert (SPRC) | 1st |
| W J16 4- | Darcey Geddes, Anna Soyinka, Catie McKendrick (SPRC) & Jaime Stewart | 2nd |
| O Lwt 1x | Ben Parsonage | 1st |
| O J18 1x | Thomas Lowrie | 2nd |
| O J18 1x | Tom Morrison | 11th |
| O J16 1x | Finlay Ward | 10th |
| O J16 1x | Hamish Blair | 21st |
| W 2- | Lucy Ashton & Elle Sutherland | 15th |
| W J18 2- | Isabel Soyinka & Zoe Cochrane (GUBC) | 1st |
| W Mas 4x | Jacqueline Irons + CSRC | 2nd |
| W Mas 4x | Sophie McCall, Rachel Smillie, Rosie Upstill-Goddard & Rebecca Toal | 3rd |
| O Nov 1x | Evgeni Nikolov | 1st |
| W J15 4x+ | Darcey Geddes, Fern Colclough, Grace Lumsden & Anna Soyinka, coxed by Jaime Stewart | 2nd |
| O Mas 4+ | Les Johnston, Ken Diamond, Douglas MacFarlane & Andrew Jones, coxed by Kit Lawson | 2nd |
| O Mas 4+ | Seamus Keating + comp, coxed by Margaret Maclean | 1st |
| O Int 4x | Ryan Finnigan, Ali Bizsel, Ben Marren & Rory Duncan | 3rd |
| W 4x | Lauren Murray, Elle Sutherland, Veronika Vohnikova & Robyn Patrick | 2nd |
| O J16 2x | Finlay Ward & Hamish Blair | 10th |
| O Nov 2x | Evgeni Nikolov & Ali Bizsel | 5th |
| O Nov 2x | Tim Barber & Kutay Yuceturk | 9th |
| W J15 2x | Darcey Geddes & Anna Soyinka | 1st |
| O Mas (D) 1x | Chris Phillips | 2nd |
| O Mas (H) 1x | Seamus Keating | 2nd |
| W Nov 4x+ | Megan Hogarth, Ruwanthi Somatilaka, Margaret Maclean & Jen Smylie, coxed by Kelsey Collington | 8th |
| W Nov 4x+ | Claire Wood, Carole Barber, Kate Wigley & Kate Torrence, coxed by Kit Lawson | 12th |
| W Mas (B) 2x | Sophie McCall & Rachel Smillie | 5th |
| W Mas (B) 2x | Rebecca Toal & Rosie Upstill-Goddard | 8th |
| W Mas (G) 2x | Jacqueline Irons + CSRC | 2nd |
| W J18 4+ | Isabel Soyinka + SPRC | 1st |
| O 4- | Frank Murray, Struan Stuart, Jack Bagley & Lukas Neilsen | 3rd |
| O 2x | Ben Parsonage & Ashley Cowley (Newark RC) | 1st |
The Scottish Championships is always a highlight of the domestic racing calendar, and this year’s edition lived up to expectations. The club’s presence across so many events speaks to the strength and depth of the club.
Congratulations to everyone who raced, and thank you to all the supporters, coaches and volunteers who made the weekend possible.
Next up is Marlow Regatta and Henley Women’s Regatta, we’ll see you at the start line.
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