Southern and Central continue fine showing at BankLink New Zealand Championships
Southern RPC continued their dominance of the men's Premier event, and Central RPC the women's events this morning at the 2009 BankLink New Zealand Rowing Championships at Lake Ruataniwha.
Hamish Bond and Matthew Trott - victorious in the pair and double scull on the first day of finals - added the Quadruple Scull and Straight Four title to their medal haul. That took Southern's premier title haul to four out of four, with only the eight to go in which they have a crew.
Bond and Trott teamed up with Storm Uru and Peter Taylor in the quad, making up for the lightweight's disappointment in the Premier double scull event when they snagged a buoy and damaged their rigging. Jade Uru took his second Red Coat of the event in the bows of Southern's straight four, with John Storey joining them for the win.
Equally impressive in the women's events were Central RPC - taking wins in the women's straight four and pair. Rebecca Scown and Fi Patterson took the pair, and teamed up with Anna Reymer and Harriet Austin to win the four and dethrone Auckland RPC. Central also took the win in the top women's lightweight double scull event, courtesy of Candice Hammond and Louise Ayling.
"We had a couple of great rows and it's great to see the hard work put in by the athletes and RPC come off," said Scown. We have strength in depth with established internationals and up and coming rowers, and it is working very well indeed for us at this championship."
New Zealand's top women's sculler Emma Twigg dominated her race, putting almost ten seconds on a chasing pack that included Waikato internationals Jaime Nielsen, Paula Twining and Odette Sceats.
Other winners this morning - with racing being compressed to try and beat a weather system coming through the South Island - included Nelson in the Women's Club Coxed Four and Waihopai in the Men's Club Eight and Senior Single Scull.
A close race was expected in the Men's premier Coxed Four event - always a one to win with the Boss Rooster trophy, one of the oldest in the sport in the world, up for grabs. Central RPC had looked exceptionally good in the heat earlier in the week, but it was Waikato that shone to retain the title they have won for the past two years. Tyson Williams, Eric Murray, Simon Watson and Selwyn Cleland were delighted winners, in a comfortable margin of over eight seconds in the end.
Picture shows: The Premier Straight Four was won by Southern RPC’s Jade Uru (bow) John Storey, Matthew Trott and Hamish Bond.