HRH the Princess Royal opens National rowing academy

Friday 7 June 2002

HRH The Princess Royal today opened Scotland's new £1.5 million National Rowing Academy at Strathclyde Park Motherwell. The Academy is owned and operated by the Scottish Amateur Rowing Association (SARA). Her Royal Highness was welcomed by Mr Ronnie Goldie, president of the SARA, and toured the National Rowing Academy and the associated Boathouse Fitness Club.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for Scottish rowing..."

Mr John McArthur, Scotland's National Rowing Coach, explained that the state-of-the-art rowing tank at the National Rowing Academy allows much closer analysis and communication between coach and athlete than is possible on open water outdoors. This dynamic rowing tank - the most sophisticated in Britain - uses electric pumps to circulate water, simulating the forward movement of the boat: a Scotland women's eight demonstrated the tank in operation for Her Royal Highness.

At the formal opening, Mr Goldie said: "The National Rowing Academy is pivotal to the development plans for the sport of rowing in Scotland. Our National Coach and our Development Officer now have an outstanding facility from which to develop both grass roots participation and world class medal-winning performances."
Her Royal Highness unveiled the commemorative plaque, in the form of an engraved stainless steel oar commemorating the occasion.

Alastair Dempster, Chairman of sportscotland, said: "The sportscotland Lottery Fund is proud to have supported the construction of the National Rowing Academy through an award of over £1.25m, as well as the National Coach Support programme which funds the Academy's full time national coach which will be vital to ensure that the facilities will be maximised by the athletes using them.
"This is a wonderful opportunity for Scottish rowing and we look forward to seeing graduates of the Academy go on to perform at the highest levels in international rowing."