YOUNG rowers make one of their annual southward pilgrimages this weekend, to take part in the National Schools regatta at Nottingham - the top junior event of the year in Britain.
Established by the visionary Desmond Hill more than 50 years ago to provide racing opportunities for younger crews below the level of the first eights that were, and are, the pride and joy of many of England's public schools, the event has grown into the biggest regatta on the British calendar. In many ways, it is also the most enjoyable.
Indeed, the size and popularity of the National Schools is so great that it is now the only domestic event that strictly forbids doubling-up on any one day. Even the mighty Henley Royal Regatta is not so strict in its entry regulations. The National Schools has also recently decided to drop some of the youngest age groups and categories because it simply cannot fit any more races into its two hectic days.
Because of its time in the regatta calendar, coming early in the international preparation cycle, the National Schools is the only event guaranteed to see virtually all top performers in action. After this, the best are creamed off into international squads, not to be seen again on the domestic circuit.
It is this level of quality that makes the performance history of Scottish clubs and schools in recent years particularly impressive. All of Scottish rowing's main junior centres - the Edinburgh schools of George Heriots and George Watson's, Dumfries club Nithsdale, and the Aberdeen Schools Rowing Association - again have real chances of bringing back another substantial medal haul.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article