Rowing: Top crews lined up for Strathclyde regatta

The Scottish rowing regatta season gets under way with a bang this weekend with the mammoth Strathclyde Park Regatta being staged today and tomorrow on Scotland's Olympic-standard course, near Motherwell.

More than 700 crews will be racing in a full programme of over 160 races for all age groups and competence categories in two full days of racing.

Altogether 25 clubs from places as far apart as Inverness, Dumfries and Aberdeen will be racing, and the Scottish community will be joined by eight English clubs, all taking part in an event that will be used as an early marker by the Scottish selectors for the annual Home International event, which will be hosted by Scotland on the same course in three months' time.

Within the overall programme, the Scottish Universities' Championship is also being staged, with the traditional powerhouse Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Strathclyde all expected to make significant challenges.