Taking to the scenic waters of Lake Karāpiro, the intermediate categories brought us a weekend of crews battling for positions and striding out ahead of the pack, making for entertaining racing all-round.
Men’s Single Sculls – Star Boating Club
It was a battle not for first in the Men’s Intermediate Single Sculls final, but for third; with Matthew Kavanagh from Star Boating Club confidently securing his spot out in front, with Waikato’s Caleb Blind sitting comfortably in second, keeping clear water between him and the group behind. The real drama ensues in the battle for third-place involving Wellington Rowing Club’s Guy Curry-Stanton, Cambridge’s Josh Hutton, St John’s College’s Mason Smith and Cameron Elliot of North Shore Rowing Club. Initially it appeared Curry-Stanton was ahead of the group but North Shore’s Elliot was providing a challenge, whilst a push from Cambridge sculler Josh Hutton saw him close the already-tight gap. However, a last-minute push from Elliot was enough to row through not only Hutton, but also both the St John’s College and Wellington scullers in the final stages to secure his third-place finish.
Men’s Double Sculls – Sacred Heart College, Auckland
With a tighter race for the top-three positions, the Men’s Intermediate Double Sculls saw Aleksandr Kostygin and George Marshall of Sacred Heart College hang on to their winning position, despite attempts from Hauraki Plains College and Whanganui Collegiate Rowing Club crews to move up on them. While the second and third place positions remained in contention for the majority of the race, in the final stages it was the Hauraki Plains College scullers Daniel Mclaren and Cameron Churchill who were able to curb the threat from Edwin Zhang and Benjamin Fraser of Whanganui Collegiate to take second place in this category.
Men’s Coxed Four – Takapuna Grammar Rowing Club
Takapuna Grammar were secure in their winning position with a few lengths of clear water separating them from the battle for second, in the final of the Men’s Intermediate Double Sculls. That left Star Boating Club and King’s College Rowing Club level for second and third into the final 500m of the race. After an impressive stretch of matching each other stroke-for-stroke, it was Star who managed to gain an advantage of a canvas before opening up in the final strokes to almost a length ahead, securing their position as runners-up to Takapuna Grammar and King’s coming through next in third.
Men’s Coxed Quadruple Sculls – Whanganui Collegiate
In contrast, the Men’s Intermediate Coxed Quadruple Sculls saw a much closer race with the front four crews from Whanganui Collegiate, Star, Glendowie College and Macleans College staying very close together as they moved towards the final stretch of their race. Whilst it had been Star putting up a tough challenge for that top spot with the leaders from Whanganui Collegiate, a well-timed response, with 250m to go, saw Glendowie move through Star, while Whanganui Collegiate extended their lead. During all this, Macleans College saw their opportunity to creep up on the crew from Star, and pushed through to steal third-place behind Glendowie who crossed the line behind the winners from Whanganui Collegiate.
Men’s Coxed Octuple Sculls – Whanganui Collegiate
Continuing their sculling success in the Men’s Intermediate Coxed Octuple Sculls final, Whanganui Collegiate secured another win in a tight race between them, Tauranga Boys College and Sacred Heart College. Coached by Tyler Scott and Dan McSweeny, Whanganui Collegiate moved into the final 500m with only two seats in front of Sacred Heart, who themselves were only a canvas in front of Tauranga. These three front-runners held clear water over the rest of the pack, until St George’s Rowing Club presented a challenge for third with less than 250m remaining. Whanganui Collegiate extended their lead as Tauranga made a move on Sacred Heart, and despite effectively closing some of the gap, there was simply not enough runway left for them to catch Sacred Heart, leaving them to cross the line in third behind Sacred Heart and the winners from Whanganui Collegiate.
Men’s Coxed Eight – Auckland Grammar Rowing Club
Hoping for a repeat of their ____ performance in the Under-16 coxed eight event, the crew from Auckland Grammar, coached by Tim Zouch and Waldo Singleton made an ___ effort to put themselves out the front early on in this Men’s Intermediate Coxed Eight final. These efforts appear to have paid off as Auckland Grammar had secured around four lengths advantage over the crews fighting for second well before they reached the final 500m. Tauranga Boys College held off Takapuna Grammar Rowing Club by around half a length as they battled Petone Rowing Club for third. As Auckland Grammar cruised towards the win, Petone and Takapuna Grammar worked to close the gap with Tauranga, but as the finish line approached Tauranga moved away to secure their second-place position as Petone’s last minute lift allowed them to push ahead of Takapuna Grammar to take third.
Livestream footage from Karāpiro Christmas Regatta is available to watch on YouTube, excluding Under-15 events.
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