An icebound Edinburgh Union Canal has not impeded city rower Callum McBrierty’s plans for a world beating year.

Beginning a season which promises much, Callum won the under-19 category at last weekend’s Scottish Indoor Rowing Championships at Heriot-Watt University.

In winning the 2000 metre race, in a time of 6:14.6, the George Watson’s pupil produced the fastest time of the day...faster than all the seniors.  Had he produced the same time in November’s British Indoor Rowing Championships it would have been good enough to win the silver medal.

“I’m pretty pleased because a lot of people had trained specifically for that event,” said Callum afterwards.   

“But my body has just gone through winter training and has got a lot of stamina but not got the power yet.  I’ll develop that through the season and as I train for the GB pathway I’m aiming to peak in August for the junior world championships.”

Callum was originally a rugby player but by his own admission a ‘pretty useless’ one.  

“One of the rowers from the school’s club said I should come along,” he recalls. “After my first time in a boat I said I never wanted to row again.  It’s hard work, it takes its toll on your body and it takes a long time to pick up.

“But my parents pushed me to keep going, after a while it became easier and soon I developed a passion for it. 

“Once you’re hooked on it, you’re really HOOKED and you can’t go without it.  When I take my two weeks off in the holidays, after about a week I miss it so much I want to get back on the water.”

Callum has been blessed with an ideal physique for the sport.  At 6’7” he is able to use his huge frame to gain a competitive advantage over his rivals.  In last summer’s European Junior Rowing Championships in France, he was part of the gold medal winning GB coxless four, the sport’s blue riband event.

During a GB training camp at Christmas he was paired with Eton College’s Casper Jopland.  They are proving a strong combination and at present are expected to be one of the fastest pairs in Britain.  As the season progresses they’ll be hoping to team up with an equally fast pair to make up the coxless four heading to Racice in the Czech Republic for the World Junior Rowing Championships.

Callum is coached by Jim Ferguson and Nigel Muir on a programme overseen by Scottish Rowing’s National High Performance Co-ordinator, Lee Boucher.  The Scottish Rowing Performance Programme works in partnership with the sportscotland institute of sport regional network to provide high quality coaching support locally.

He’s not managed to spend much time on the water this year because the canal has been frozen, but his indoor training has continued unhindered. 

“When the canal is properly de-frosted I do 10 sessions a week, six of them on the water and four of them indoors on the Concept2 ergos and dynos,” he said.

“I am tremendously dedicated; I make the commitment and get the results...at the moment.  I hope it keeps going.”

In January Callum was selected for the East of Scotland Institute of Sport, part of the sportscotland institute of sport regional network, in its first batch of rowers.

The network works with partners to build greater success for Scottish sport.  Its expert teams work together to support Scottish governing body-identified athletes, delivering essential support services locally in sports medicine, sports science, strength and conditioning, and career and lifestyle guidance.

“I’ve had a lot of help from the physio, Olly Davis, who has come up with some injury prevention routines having identified some injuries which get worse further down the line,” said Callum.  “The institute will be a big help and once my exams finish I’ll be pushing to utilise the institute a lot, to make the most of all the opportunities.”

Making institute services available to rowers means that although Edinburgh is 400 miles north of the traditional venues on the Thames, Scottish rowers have more than adequate resources in place to prepare them for a life on the big stage. 

The Scottish National Rowing Centre is based at Strathclyde Park and, built to Olympic standards,  boasts one of only two 2000m eight-lane rowing courses in the UK.  The other at Dorney Lake will host the London 2012 Olympic Games.  The Centre features a fully equipped gymnasium along with a state-of-the-art indoor rowing tank.

Callum is proof that you can be a successful rower based in Scotland.  And, even leaving Great Britain’s most successful Olympic female rower Katherine Granger aside, there’s a good list of young Scots competing at world class level.

Last summer Lochwinnoch’s Andrew Holmes helped GB’s coxless four win the Junior World Rowing Championships.  Balfron’s Rosie Young and Callum brought home four gold and one silver medal from the European Junior Rowing Championships.  And at the annual GB France under-16 match in Cardiff, George Heriot’s Jack Leask won two gold medals.

“We travel to England not knowing quite what to expect because we don’t get the same level of competition up here. We don’t have any gauge as to how good we are,” said Callum.

“The canal might not be the best place in the world to train compared with somewhere like Eton but we seem to do quite well on it.  I managed to achieve what I have so far and I will keep moving on the way I am.”

As he works his way through the age categories, collecting titles on the way, Callum’s seasons get better with each year. 

“Two years ago I competed at the Home Countries for Scotland, then last year I managed to compete for GB,” he said.

“This year I plan to compete for GB at a higher level. I want to go to the Munich Regatta in May, race in the top boat there and then go on to the World Championships in August in the Czech Republic, race in the top boat there and become World Champion.”

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Images and copy courtesy of Rob Eyton-Jones