Inverness Rowing club in talks to set up beach sprint academy in Nairn
INVERNESS Rowing Club are in talks to potentially establish a beach sprint academy in Nairn.
Club president Robert Gordon has confirmed it has identified the town as an area where it can establish the sport in the region.
Beach Sprint Rowing is a form of coastal rowing and is set to be included in the Olympics for the first time in Los Angeles in 2028.
In 2023, Beach Sprint Rowing was featured at the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals in Barletta, Italy, after being part of the Mediterranean Beach Games in Greece.
The format will also be part of the 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal and the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, in addition to other high-profile Continental multisport games and World Championships taking place every year.
There has been Highland success in beach sprinting on the world stage. Inverness rower Heather Gordon helped Great Britain win gold at the World Rowing Beach Sprint Championship.
Her father Robert says Nairn is seen as an ideal area to establish beach sprinting in the region and talks are underway on making it happen.
He said: “We have identified the Nairn beach area as a location for a potential beach sprints academy.
“We would like to set up a beach sprint facility in Nairn.
“We have been talking to clubs in the area to create an opportunity for young people in the Nairn area and wider afield to get them rowing off the beach.
“We expect a huge anticipation in the sport once it is seen at the Olympics in 2028 that people will want to try it and we want to get ready for it now.”
The plans come after Inverness Rowing Club was named as Scottish Rowing club of the year.
Last year the club also opened its new £300,000 boathouse at Torvean.
Gordon says the club receiving the award shows how far the club has come in recent years.
He hopes being named Scottish club of the year will prove to be a major boost to get more people involved in rowing.
He said: “It hopefully gives more recognition for rowing in the Inverness area and reach out to people to let them know what we are trying to do. It gives us confidence in what we are doing and the continued support going forward.
“There have been a lot of people in helping taking this forward.”
Inverness will be hosting a major rowing event in November when around 1000 people are expected to take part with between 650 to 700 boats on the Caledonian Canal.