Oarsome! Stars rise to rowing challenge for Doddie charity

IT was all hands on deck on a former Royal Yacht yesterday as seven teams of sports stars rowed hundreds of thousands of metres between them to raise money for Doddie Weir’s charity.

Olympic gold medal winner Dame Katherine Grainger and former Scotland rugby captain Rob Wainwright were among the participants battling it out on rowing machines on the Royal Yacht Britannia in Leith, Edinburgh.

The challenge, which was joined by several other teams virtually, was to see who could row the furthest between 10am and 1pm.

Despite the efforts of all rowers on the ship, the winner was The Spoke & Diesel team in Dublin. Led by former British & Irish Lion Paul Wallace, it reached 59.6km. The challenge, known as The Doddie Aid Britannia Regatta, was arranged to raise money for the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, which is committed to raising funds to fight motor neurone disease.

Its founder, former Scotland rugby international Doddie Weir, who was diagnosed with the condition in 2016, died in November aged 52.

Dame Katherine said: ‘We are all here because we all in some way knew Doddie Weir and it’s so hard with it being so recent since we lost him.

‘The memory is so strong, the spirit is alive. ‘Everyone who is here wanted to be here for Doddie, for this charity and for doing something together.’