Meet the Crew
Last up in our “meet the crew” series is Becki Castle, our Rowing Captain. You can find out more about her background on our ‘About Us’ page, as she is one of our trustees.
“My passion for rowing started around 14 years ago when I was living in Derbyshire and a member of Derby Rowing Club, spending my weekends on the river Derwent in fine boats. Single sculling, doubles, quads and 8’s, with the latter being my favourite as they were faster!
When I moved to Scotland one of my priorities was to find a rowing club! Stranraer CRC was being formed having just built their first boat Lady Bay. I went along for a trial session and that was me hooked. I became a member and trustee of the club and enjoyed it hugely, taking part in lots of events and my first World Championships where I rowed and coxed. I’m a founding member of Wigtown Bay CRC and have been a trustee and Rowing Captain since the club started in 2019. I was never sporty when I was younger so my current passions are a surprise even to me. Nowadays I love to spend my spare time hiking, paddle boarding and boxing as well as rowing.
Rowing is incredibly sociable and I always advocate the mental health benefits as well as the obvious physical ones. It’s a hugely inclusive sport with people of all ages taking part and rowing together.
I love the competitive side of rowing, the buzz of racing is fantastic, along with the fun to be had going to events at other clubs around Scotland, where the coastal rowing community is so welcoming. I’ve taken part in 3 World Championships so far. I’ve rowed the length of Loch Ness and gone up and down the Nith and across the Solway and back from Annan a few times. I’ve won gold, silver and bronze medals in lots of sprint races at various regattas.
My biggest motivation for taking part in a marathon rowing challenge is not only fundraising for my club but also comes from the other women in my crew. Whilst I’m one of the youngest at 51, the strength, passion and determination of these women keeps me going when everything hurts after hours of training in the skiff. Age is no barrier to what you can achieve if you have the right mindset.”
If you would like to support Becki and the crew in this challenge you can use GoFundMe link