This weekend the world’s best beach sprint rowers will be competing in China at the World Rowing Beach Sprint Championships taking place. Inverness' Heather Gordon will be on the GB team and says she is out to add to the world gold she won in 2024.
Heather was part of the GB team which won the Mixed Quad gold in Italy two years ago, this year she will compete alongside England's James Cox in the mixed doubles and comes into the event in good form having won Mixed Doubles gold and a bronze in the singles at the Scottish Championships.
The Inverness Rowing Club member insists she is in a good place to make another podium on one of the sport's biggest stages, she said: “Going into the World Championships, it would be brilliant to come away with a medal.
"That is always the goal, we want to go there and compete against the best in the world and come out on top.”
“It would mean everything to finish on the podium, it would show that all the hard work and dedication that I have put into it, and obviously it is a real reward when you get a medal.”
“It was really special, I am feeling really good about my performances as of late, obviously winning the Scottish Championships was great, and the performances from that are a good indicator of where we are at.”
“Overall, I am really happy and excited with how I am feeling physically at the moment, and with where we are in the Mixed Doubles at this point in the season.
“I think it would also be hugely inspiring for everyone back home in Inverness, just to show that you can be from further up north and it is still possible to compete at this level, which I think is a really important story to share."
The 25-year-old athlete has been training in the Scottish Highlands, and St Andrews where British Rowing has based its Beach Sprint Performance Development Academy ahead of the sport's Olympic debut at LA 2028.
Heather is coached by Iain Docwra, Scottish Rowing’s Beach Sprint Pathway Coach, a sportscotland funded position. While regular support from a range of sportscotland practitioners means Heather can arrive at major events with knowledge that no stone has been left unturned in her preparation.
Beach sprint rowing combes running, rowing, racing and navigating challenging conditions, the sport is psychologically testing as well as being extremely physically demanding.
At the World Championships, Heather will start the Mixed Doubles on the sand, sprinting to the boat, followed by Heather and James rowing 250m, whilst navigating a route round several water buoys, before completing 180 degrees turn and repeating those steps with James finishing with a sprint on the sand. Throughout a competition an athlete could be completing upwards of seven or eight repetitions per day.
To help Heather prepare for the demands of the sport, she has been supported by the sportscotland institute of sport, where practitioners and regional contractors have been aiding her development.
Basing herself out of the Highlands and St Andrews, a team of sportscotland staff across areas such as physical preparation, physiotherapy, psychology and nutrition have been working collaboratively with Heather and Scottish Rowing and British Rowing to support her progress both at home and on the road.
Performance practitioners work with Heather in the gym, on the running track and on the water. Focusing on power, running mechanics and speed training, with data being collected through specific force plate and speed testing, ensuring every area of Heather's progress is tracked and training plans continually adapted when necessary.
Heather grew up a talented rower, competing for Scotland as a junior. However, she only came to the sport of beach sprint rowing 16 months before her maiden World Championship title, acknowledging the impact that sportscotland’s support has had on her quick rise in a new sport, saying:
“It’s been really important, the sportscotland institute of pport has played a massive role in helping me get to where I am today. The help that I have had with strength and conditioning in the gym has been amazing and having access to it several times a week has been so important.”
“I think it has been really important to have practitioners based out of the Highlands. It meant that for a long time I didn’t have to leave Inverness. I could train where I wanted to. I could be at home surrounded by family and I could have access to all of the practitioners, and not be forced to do a lot of travelling back and forward from the central belt.”
In July 2026, Heather was part of a GB Beach Sprint Rowing Squad that went out to Los Angeles, to the site of the 2028 Olympic venue where beach sprint rowing will make its Olympic debut. An experience that has made Heather even more determined to make the 2028 iteration of the Olympic Games, she added:
“That was really special, getting to go to Los Angeles, and rowing on what will be the Olympic course in 2028 was really special and just an incredible experience.”
“Getting to go to Los Angeles and getting to see where the Olympic course will be definitely inspires you to keep pushing and training hard to make sure you are there in 2028."
