Sam Scrimgeour and Laura McKenzie snatch silver at European Beach Sprint Championships

Tom Walker won GB’s second medal, a brilliant bronze, at the 2024 European Beach Sprint Championships in Gdansk, Poland, from 20-23 June

Racing in the Coastal mixed double sculls (CMix2x), the Scottish crew of Sam Scrimgeour (Glasgow RC) and Laura McKenzie (Glasgow University BC) put in a strong initial performance to qualify for the ‘last eight’. They then went on to beat Portugal in the quarter final, and Spain in the semi-final, before losing out to Lithuania by just 0.92 seconds in the final. Scrimgeour and McKenzie also won silver in the CMix2x at last year’s World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals.

Also earning himself a trip to the podium was Tom Walker from Christchurch RC, who took bronze in the Under 19 Men’s solos (CJM1x). Having qualified for the last eight, he beat Portugal in the quarter final but then lost narrowly in the semi final to the 2023 World and European Champion Under 19 from Italy. Tom then snatched the bronze in Final B, finishing 1.46 seconds ahead of Austria.

GB’s other four entries all made it through to the ‘last eight’ and on to their semi finals and then Final B races, placing fourth after battling for bronze. These were Jerry Owen of Fishguard and Goodwick Jemima RC and Clare Jamison from Christchurch RC in the Coastal men’s solos (CM1x) and Coastal women’s solos (CW1x), and the under 19s Natasha Phillips (Wycliffe College BC) in the Coastal under 19 women’s solos (CJW1x) and Leah Saunders (Evesham RC) and Sol Chamberlain-Hyde (Lymington ARC) in the Coastal under 19 mixed double sulls (CJMix2x).

In the endurance events at the Coastal Championships taking place at the same time for club crews, Charles Cousins, representing Mumbles RC, won the Club CMix2x with Austrian sculler Katharina Lobnig. A good number of other UK competitors took part including several crews from Jersey RC and Runcorn RC.