Corowa Rowing Club members had the opportunity to represent their schools at the Victorian schools regatta held in Geelong on Thursday, March 14.
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Members represented Corowa High School, Galen Catholic College, Xavier High School and Rutherglen High School.
Liam Fitzgerald was in and out of the boat all day competing in the Year 9 single, double and quad sculls.
Liam teamed with year 7 student Marcus Maclean in the double and after making the final finished in 2nd place.
The boys teamed with Clancy Tomlinson, Lachie Hogan and cox Sommers Hogan up against older opposition the crew rowed well to finish in 3rd place.
Liam raced the single scull after winning his heat rowed strongly in the final to finish in 3rd place.
Olivia Hughes teamed with year 8 student Clancy Tomlinson in the open double scull, the event the girls will be rowing at the HOSG regatta from Friday.
Clancys first row over the course and first race with Olivia went to plan with the crew making the final, improving with each row.
The girls finished in 3rd place and gained invaluable race experience.
The Julian brothers teamed up in the Year 10 double.
Older brother Will led the way, Brodie finishing 2nd in the heat and a place in the final.
Up against a quality field the boys gave their best to finish in 4th place.
Brodie was also in the year 8 single against double scull partner Spencer Holland representing Rutherglen H.S.
Both scullers made the final as Spencer recovered from a capsize in the heat and refocused on the final.
Spencer grabbed the lead from the start as he with stood a challenge from Brodie and the Hawthorn sculler to lead all the way for the win.
Will was up against a quality field in the year 10 single and again showed he can mix it with the best by making the final to finish in 4th place.
Galen Catholic College students Emily Tidd and Yasmine Budic had their 1st row on the Barwon River in the year 9 double scull winning the heat the girls moved into the A final.
Building on the earlier row the girls continued to improve to finish in 3rd place.
The girls teamed in a quad scull to make the B final that they won easily.
Emily featured in the year 9 single scull where crew mate Bella Heagney was also entered.
Up against each other in the heat needing a top 2 finish the girls led the field with Emily recording a narrow win.
In the final the Footscray sculler took the lead as Emily and Bella had a tough battle for the minor places.
Emily showed her hard work at training was paying off to finish in 2nd place with Bella in 3rd.
Bella representing Xavier rowed in the year 8 single against young gun Sommers Hogan.
Bella led all the way as Sommers showed her usual determination to finish strongly in 2nd place.
Thanks to all the parents for helping at the regatta, bow numbers helping crews on and off the water was much appreciated.
Robert Eyers and Danial Holland completed the clubs officiating duties throughout the day.
The students as expected represented their schools in a professional manner and will be better for the row.
Friday morning welcomed the start of the largest school girl regatta in the Southern Hemisphere the Head of School Girls regatta.
3 local crews were represented with Olivia Hughes and Clancy Tomlinson from Corowa High entered in the Open double, Emily Tidd Galen Catholic College and Bella Heagney Xavier High in the year 9 single scull.
First up was the double with Olivia and Clancy in a battle for 2nd place.
With 500m to go the girls made their move to move into 2nd place with a confidence building row.
The first of the year 9 singles featured Emily with 1st moving straight into Saturday’s quarter finals.
Emily got a great start and had great speed early before hitting a buoy and losing momentum.
Emily fought back and held 2nd position comfortably and moving into Saturday mornings Reps with a top qualifying time.
Bella needed the same result and took the lead early and controlled the race with the 2nd fastest time out of the heats.
Ideal conditions greeted the crews Saturday morning with Olivia and Clancy in the 2nd repechage.
Needing to win to move into the semi-finals and a guaranteed top 8 position for the event.
The girls settled early and took control of the race to lead all the way and a spot in the afternoons semi-finals.
Emily was up next in her rep after a strong row in her heat Emily was determined to make the quarter finals.
Emily had her best row to take the lead and in a P.B time moved into the next round.
The afternoons semis saw the open double scull up first needing a top 2 finish to make the medal race.
The girls had their best start to keep pace early as the race past the 500m mark the girls were sitting in 4th.
A strong push during the middle 500m saw the Corowa High crew move up into 3rd place and in a strong row, held on for a place in the B final on Sunday afternoon.
The year 9 single scull quarter final saw the 2 Corowa scullers up against each other with 1st and 2nd into the semi-finals.
Bella had a great start as she took the lead from Emily with both girls sitting clear and with a controlled race both scullers moving into Sunday mornings semi-finals.
Another perfect day for rowing greeted the competitors for the regattas last day.
Bella was up first and as expected was in for a real battle for the top 2 places and qualify for the A final.
The Footscray sculler took the early lead as Bella held onto 3rd place at the half way mark.
As the tempo lifted Bella made a move moving closer to the all-important 2nd place but on the line fell 1/3 of a boat length short in 3rd place.
Emily has been improving with each race and a place in the A final was her goal.
The field got out smartly with Emily keeping pace in 4th position.
The crews lifted for the line as Emily made her move passing her opposition to take 2nd place and move into the A final.
The open double of Olivia and Clancy keep improving with every row and in the B final the crew moved their way into 3rd place and a ranking of 7th which is an amazing achievement with Clancy in year 8 and rowing the 1500m course for the first time.
The experience of rowing with Olivia will set her up for her future in school girl rowing.
Bella was determined to win the B final up against a quality field, she had a great start and when challenged at the 500m mark was strong enough to push away and take a confidence building win.
The clubs last event was the A final featuring Emily Tidd in the year 9 single scull.
With Emily only taking up the sport in November she improves with every session on the water.
Needing her best row to have any hope of a medal, Emily worked strongly into the slight head wind conditions to keep in touch with her more experienced opposition.
With 2 scullers moving clear the fight was on for the bronze medal.
Emily made a move with 300m to go edging in front and proved too strong in the closing stages to finish in 3rd place.
Thanks to all the parents for their help throughout the 4 days of racing it was a great regatta for the development of the young rowers.
With Paige Cooper entering the Navy for her gap year, it was fantastic to see her at Geelong as a past HOSG champion to support young rowers.
The club is heading to Footscray and Essendon for the final club regatta March 23 and 24 with the young rowers leading the way.
Amy is heading to Sydney for the Australian Championships competing in the club double scull with her mother Julie and the LW U23 quad scull with rowers from Melbourne and Geelong.
Final selection for the Victorian LW quad is on Tuesday, March 19 when Amy will find out if she was successful.