Karāpiro Christmas Regatta 2023 – Junior Girls Roundup

Taking to the waters at one of New Zealand’s best rowing venues, Karāpiro Christmas Regatta brings together crews from across the North Island, as well as welcoming international visitors from Australia. With some events needing up to six heats to decide the finalists, the junior women’s categories produced some of the best racing of the weekend.

Commercial Rowing Club

Visiting from Brisbane, Commercial Rowing Club made sure to not only make their trip worthwhile, but also make a standout impression with their incredible performances across both sweeping and sculling categories. Under-16 single sculls winner Cianna Becker combined forces with Summer Phillips to also take home the Under-16 double sculls title, in addition to the coxed quadruple sculls, with the help of Olivia Grant, Lucie O’Farrell and cox Daisy Plawecki. Commercial didn’t stop at sculling though. The aforementioned quad squad made up half of the club’s winning Under-17 coxed eight, along with Indiana Jenkinson, Rose Rix, Poppy Yarski and Lila Meredith. Coaches David Vandas and Ross Batho have clearly set this squad up for success, and with a few more years as juniors, there’s likely to be many impressive performances to come from this group. 

Waikato Diocesan School

From a bit closer to home, Waikato Diocesan School also firmly made their mark, securing wins in the Under-15, Under-16 and Under-18 eights; with their Under-17 crew putting up a good fight with Commercial, but ultimately missing out on a win by less than a length. Not stopping there, Waikato Dio’s Under-18 and Under-15 coxed fours crews also finished first and second, respectively. 

St Peter’s School / West End Rowing Club

Honorable mentions also have to go out to St Peter’s School who, with their home-water advantage, took home a comfortable win in the Under-17 coxed quadruple sculls, as well as being runners-up in both the Under-18 eight and coxed quadruple sculls. 

West End Rowing Club also pulled out impressive winning performances in both the Under-17 coxed fours and coxless pairs events, despite strong challenges from the runners-up from Cambridge High School and Mount Albert Grammar School.

Livestream footage from Karāpiro Christmas Regatta is available to watch on YouTube, excluding Under-15 events.

About The Author

Meg Ashford

After being involved in rowing in various capacities for over ten years, Meg joined the JRN team in 2023 after trying her hand at commentary at Henley Women’s Regatta. Meg is currently a coach at Westlake Boys High School in Auckland, New Zealand, as well as a commentator based at Lake Karāpiro covering the North Island event series.

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