When in Rome...
A real show of strength around the Roman ruins on Croy Hill saw FVO athletes win six of the eight classes in the CLYDE SoSOL, and come home with two -thirds of the medals.
The Brown course entry was a bit spicy for a SoSOL race, with eight former JWOC competitors lining up, and Dom Edward was the best-placed of the local contingent, as he was 11th (69.59), just ahead of Marcus Pinker. However, FVO athletes made hay on the other courses, including three classes where they had the full podium.
Clare Stansfield rejoined the club on the morning of the race, and she won the Blue race in 58.24, keeping Fraser Cheyne (60.06) and Lucas Baikie (61.11) in the minor placings.
Hannah Inman was one of a number of under 14s to run up on the day, and she was rewarded with the Green course title in 38.09, while on Short Green, Matthew Owen was also an out-of-course winner, as he headed the classification in 31.37, leaving Murray (46.28) and Richard (46.39) Baldwin in 2nd and 3rd.
The Light Green race then became an Under 13 affair, and we have another FVO cakestand, as Lachlan Carruthers (33.21), Sophie Edward (38.31) and Luc Darvill (47,34) occupy the podium.
Orange is the only other colour without an FVO winner, but Glenda Carruthers (47.11) and Cammy Lockyer (51.55) were 2nd and 3rd, and normal service was resumed on the Yellow course, where Iona Harrison (21.16) was home ahead of Aurora Lockyer (27.20) for the top two places. Finally on White, Oscar Baikie has the win in 20.42 and Zach Harrison completes the medal haul for the day with the bronze (33.43).
The British University Championships took place on both sides of the Severn estuary, and Edinburgh dominated proceedings as they won all four races. James Hammond took the individual silver medal behind team-mate Euan Tryner, and the pair then joined up with Alex Wetherill to win the relay by five minutes.
There was a small local sandwich on the women's individual course, where Laura Brown (73.48) was 17th, one place ahead of Lizzie Stansfield (74.26) and Sophie Howard (78.29) was 20th, one place behind last year's champion.
Further afield, Grace Molloy helped herself to a podium place in the pre-WOC Sprint race in Italy, recovering well from an early error to drop in the quickest split on the 13th leg and take 6th place in 13.40.