From singles and eights, to fours and octuple sculls, there was no shortage of exciting races across the intermediate events. With plenty close finishes, these crews put up some intense fights for their positions, producing a thrilling weekend of races.
Women’s Single Sculls – Waitemata Rowing Club
Starting off with the Women’s Intermediate Single Sculls event, the race remained close into the final 750m until Rose Hinton from Waitemata began to extend her lead, looking very relaxed as she approached the finish line. A fierce battle for second saw Milan Teinakore from West End Rowing Club push up against Senga Hickson from Cambridge and the Rotorua Girls High School sculler, Frances Hazeldine. With the leader changing every stroke, this bowball battle endured over 100m but ultimately it was West End’s Milan Teinakore who was ahead by less than half a canvas as the group passed the 500m buoy. Senga Hickson put in a strong effort to push up on Frances Hazeldine who sat in third as Sara O’Driscoll from Rotorua Lakes High School added pressure as she shortened the gap between them. As the finish line approached both the Waitemata and West End extended their respective leads in first and second position as Frances Hazeldine managed to stay just ahead of Senga Hickson to secure third place.
Women’s Double Sculls – Cambridge Rowing Club
In addition to her strong performance in the single sculls, Senga Hickson joined forces with Belle Woods to represent Cambridge again in the Women’s Intermediate Double Sculls, but they were no match for teammates Ashlea Quirk and Briony Fraser who established a comfortable lead early on and cruised over the line to take the win, allowing the drama to unfold in their wake. Hickson and Woods worked hard to hold off Hamilton Rowing Club’s Mhairi Rademaker and Ella Cloke who chased the duo down to the line. Only in the final 100m were the Cambridge crew able to gain some clear water over Hamilton to cross the line in second behind their teammates. There wasn’t only a battle for second however. Just behind, Frances Hazeldine and Cara Mudie from Rotorua Lakes put up a fierce fight against Whakatane Rowing Club’s Ayla Rowe and Grace Iremonger for fourth-place; with less than half a second separating the crews as they cross the line, with Rotorua Lakes just ahead.
Women’s Coxed Four – Sacred Heart Girls College, Hamilton
By the time they had reached the half-way mark, Sacred Heart College had already secured a two-length lead in the Women’s Intermediate Coxed Fours final, with a three-way battle for second occurring just behind. With their bowball less than half a canvas up, Wellington Girls College worked hard to stay ahead of the crews from Queen Margaret College and St Kentigern College Rowing Club, in addition to West End Rowing Club closing the gap between them and the group. As Sacred Heart extended their lead further, a push from West End forced Kent’s to respond if they wanted to stay in the mix; leading them to push out ahead of Queen Margaret’s and Wellington, leaving them in their own battle for fourth-place. West End put in an impressive effort to push up in the final stages but it wasn’t enough to catch Kent’s who managed to hold on to second position, or to prevent Wellington and Queen Margaret’s from rowing through them to secure third and fourth-place, respectively.
Women’s Coxed Quadruple Sculls – St Paul’s Collegiate
Coached by Morgan Blind and Roy Pickard, the crew from St Paul’s Collegiate held a half-a-length lead over Tauranga Rowing Club until the final 500m of the Women’s Intermediate Coxed Quadruple Sculls final, where they managed to pull away, as the two crews left clear water between them and the battle for third-place. North Shore Rowing Club, Cambridge Rowing Club and Aramoho Whanganui remained closely engaged in their push to finish third, with North Shore leading as St Paul’s and Tauranga extended their clear water leads. As the crews moved into their final 100m of the race, Aramoho Whanganui slipped back as Cambridge pushed past North Shore, crossing the line in third with less than two seconds between them.
Women’s Coxed Octuple Sculls – Whanganui Collegiate
Following the trend of their club’s sculling successes across the weekend, it’s no surprise that Whanganui Collegiate Rowing Club pulled off another impressive performance in the Women’s Intermediate Coxed Octuple Sculls event. Establishing a healthy lead early on, the Whanganui Collegiate crew, coached by Tyler Scott and Rick Grobecker, left Diocesan School for Girls to defend themselves against a challenge from Bay of Plenty Coast Rowing Club. A well-timed response from Dio allowed both them and leaders Whanganui Collegiate to open up their leads, whilst a push from Whangarei Rowing Club put pressure on the crew from Bay of Plenty Coast. As Whanganui Collegiate and Dio cruised over the line to take the top two spots, the battle for third ran down to the line, with less than two seconds separating Bay of Plenty Coast and Whangarei, who finished third and fourth place, respectively.
Women’s Coxed Eight – St Cuthberts College
At the half-way point of the Women’s Intermediate Coxed Eights final, it was anybody’s race. With Star Boating Club leading the group by half a canvas, not much separated them from Baradene College, Gisbourne Rowing Club, St Cuthberts College or Petone Rowing Club, who remaining in line as they pushed towards the final 500m. As the front three – St Cuthberts, Star and Gisbourne – separated from the rest, Baradene and Petone were not ready to be left behind. As Star and Gisbourne engaged in a battle for second, St Cuthberts began to extend a lead ahead of the group. Meanwhile, Baradene and Petone were engaged in a battle of their own, pushing for fourth, before Petone pushed ahead to begin creeping up on the Star/Gisbourne struggle. Petone leveled with Star just before the 250m buoy, proceeding to push ahead of them and up on Gisbourne in the final stages. Gisbourne needed a powerful response to stay ahead of Petone moving swifty up on them, ultimately managing to hold out in front of the Petone crew in the final few strokes, to take second behind St Cuthberts.
Livestream footage from Karāpiro Christmas Regatta is available to watch on YouTube, excluding Under-15 events.
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