As the first major event of the New Zealand rowing calendar, it was a fascinating weekend working out who would be the frontrunners for this coming season. There were some familiar faces, along with a few unexpected newcomers, so let’s take a look at the highlights of the regatta.
A shortage of entries left the women’s finals appearing quite bare, with only four crews lining up for the fours and eights events. However, across the boat classes it was Waikato Rowing Club who were the shining stars, taking home wins in the eight, four and double. Surprisingly however, in the eights, Waikato ‘B’, coxed by Maya Trower, successfully dominated their teammates in the ‘A’ boat by a staggering ten seconds with an impressive second kilometre. Meanwhile, Madison Wright, Frances Casey, Ellyce Smith and Pippa Dixon joined forces to produce an even more commanding performance in the four. The effort they delivered left Hawke’s Bay Rowing Club trying to claw back some of their several lengths of clear water, a fairly fruitless task.
On the other hand, the men’s events saw a range of clubs securing victories, from Johno O’Brien knocking out an impressive ten-second lead for Hamilton Rowing Club in the single, to St George’s Rowing Club battling it out with Whakatane Rowing Club to claim the win in the quadruple sculls. Another highlight of the men’s racing included Auckland Rowing Club‘s Alex King and Louis Upton pulling themselves ahead of North Shore Rowing Club‘s Jackson Metuangaro and Jacob Lorkin in the final stages of the pair A-final to take a close but well-fought win. Astoundingly, this was proceeded by King teaming up with Talisman Lloyd in the double, taking another superb victory.
Finally, an honourable mention must go to King’s College, who held a firm grip over the men’s club eight final, holding off Sacred Heart College to take a nail-biting one-second advantage over the line. Assuming this is their U18 crew (given their lack of entries in that event) King’s have certainly set themselves up to have a strong start to their Maadi Cup campaign, making for an exciting season to come.
With all said and done, its time to see what the crews can produce between now and Christmas Regatta, with the time until the last big regatta of the year ticking down.
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