Nithsdale rowing Regatta in 150th year

Nithsdale Amateur Rowing Club has celebrated its 150th birthday with its annual Regatta.

The 750m sprint race on the river Nith in Dumfries attracts competitors from all over Scotland and the North of England.

Rowers compete in categories according to their experience, age and boat, for instance:

• Single sculls (1 rower with 2 oars)

• Double sculls (2 rowers with 2 oars each)

• Pairs (2 rowers with 1 oar each)

• Quads (4 rowers with 2 oars each)

• Fours (4 rowers with 1 oar each)

The Nithsdale Amateur Rowing Club Limited (affectionately known as "NARC") started as the Nithsdale Regatta Club in 1865 although the earliest recorded reference to rowing on the river Nith by a club dates back to 1790.

The club was formed on 14th September 1865 by fourteen men who met in Ingram's Hotel on Dumfries High Street and the boathouse was completed in March 1866.

The club has always operated from the same place on the north bank of the Nith near Greensands. The present clubhouse dates back to June 1962 and has subsequently been extended.

The club puts its success in recent years down to links with Dumfries schools and more recently with the Crichton University campus, who now have their own boat club, sub-affiliated to NARC.

Several rowers have gone on to represent both their club and country in races. There is also a thriving adult section of rowers enjoying the health benefits of the sport.

2015 marks the 150th anniversary of the founding of the club and the Regatta is the start of a number of special events planned to mark it.