With limited regatta experience, the eight-lane course stretching across the crystal blue waters of Lake Karāpiro can be nerve-wracking; though you wouldn’t be able to tell with some of the confident performances across these novice categories. This weekend saw crews battle their way down the 2000m stretch, with some pulling out dominant leads early on, whilst others put up fierce fights right up to the line.
Men’s Double Sculls – Clifton Rowing Club
Extending a commanding lead from early on in the Men’s Novice Double Sculls final were Oliver Kohlhase and Jasper Sullivan-Ussher representing Clifton Rowing Club. The duo had pushed out in front of the pack to give themselves a great view of Aramoho Whanganui and St Peter’s School who held onto second and third, respectively. Despite a decent challenge from Max Fielder and Dennis Mao of St Peter’s School, Achilles Paikea and Kynan Brewer were able to secure their second-place position with confidence. With each of the top three keeping clear water between them and the crew behind, their positions were secured well before the final 500m of this race.
Men’s Coxed Four – Hamilton Boys High School
In this Men’s Novice Coxed Four final, the real race was the battle for second. Hamilton Boys High School dominated the race, gaining and five length lead over the rest of the pack by the time they reached the half-way line. The Hamilton crew, coached by Scott Brownlee, went on to cruise over the finish line, even extending their lead in the final stages. Behind them however, it was looking like Mercer Rowing Club were going to be able to just hold off the crew from Sacred Heart College, Auckland as they reached 250m remaining. However, a couple missed strokes in the final stretch opened the door for Sacred Heart who seized their opportunity to push into second, ultimately crossing the line a length in front.
Men’s Coxed Quadruple Sculls – Aramoto Whanganui
A similar story to the Coxed Fours event, in the Men’s Novice Coxed Quadruple Sculls, there was no stopping the crew from Aramoho Whanganui, who strided into first place with a very comfortable four length advantage. The struggle this time was for third place, with Clifton Rowing Club comfortably hanging onto their second-place position a couple lengths ahead, a four-way battle was underway for third between St Peter’s School, St Paul’s Collegiate, Whakatane Rowing Club and Bay of Plenty Coast Rowing Club. At the beginning of the second half of this race, it appeared to be St Peter’s who had nudged in front but into the final 500m, both Whakatane and Bay of Plenty Coast put in impressive pushes to row right through the crew, Whakatane managing to get about a length in front. A last-minute response from St Peter’s did see them manage to re-overtake Whakatane but it was not enough to catch Bay of Plenty Coast, who were able to cross the line in third.
Men’s Coxed Eight – Hamilton Boys High School
Moving into the second half of the Men’s Novice Coxed Eights final, there was not a lot in it between the crews. The two eights from Hamilton Boys stood alongside Westlake Boys High School, Sacred Heart College and Auckland Grammar School, before Hamilton and Westlake began to move away just before the final 500m. With half a length separating these top three, Hamilton’s A crew, coached by Scott Brownlee, began to extend their lead over their teammates, also coached by Brownlee, with Westlake following close behind them in third. Into the final stages of the race, whilst there was still overlap from both Hamilton B and Westlake, Hamilton A held on firmly to their lead. As they crossed the final 250m buoy however, Hamilton A strided out in front, with Westlake moving up very quickly to get in front of Hamilton B. But in the final strokes, an impressive response saw Hamilton B follow their teammates over the line, with Westlake crossing a mere second behind.
Livestream footage from Karapiro Christmas Regatta is available to watch on YouTube, excluding Under-15 events.
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