With an interrupted start to the season, the Corowa Rowing Club and rowers made the decision to compete at Penrith, the home of the Olympics for the first regatta.
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Offering two days of competition was an ideal choice with day one over the 2,000m and 1,000m course and the NSW Sprint Championships over the 500m course on Sunday.
Day 1
All races used all nine lanes offering a First and Final for each event.
First up was Anastasia McFarlane and Sommers Hogan in the U16 double scull. The girls were nervous getting the boat on the water rowing against new competition and a new course. The nerves quickly left after the start, as the Corowa crew grabbed the early lead. With a strong push at the 500m mark the crew was in control to record a great win.
The next event was the U16 single with Anastasia and Sommers joined by 13-year-old Sienna McFarlane. Drawn in separate races, first up was Sienna who worked hard over the 1000m course to finish strongly in eighth place. Sommers was in the next final moving clear early with the Hunter Valley Grammar sculler.
A great race was on hand as both scullers made a push for the line with Sommers falling half a second behind. Anastasia hasn’t been in the single since March, but her technique was still evident as she took the early lead. As the pace heated up, the Sydney sculler made her move to pull up alongside and in a sprint to the line the Corowa sculler fell short by 2 seconds.
The afternoon races featured Corowa scullers over the 2,000m course. First up was Adelaide Robb in the U17 single scull. Up against the National Champion, Adelaide’s aim was to finish strongly over the full course.
Getting a fantastic start saw Adelaide up with leaders as the field split in two. Rowing a well-controlled race Adelaide settled and finished in third place and pleased with her row.
Amy Underwood who now rows for Shoalhaven RC due to relocating for work, entered in the highly competitive Open LW single. Amy continued to improve with every race over the 2000m course finishing in sixth place.
Susie Scott teamed up with the Shoalhaven masters quad scull and with the handicap system gave 14 seconds head start to the North Shore crew. The crew rowed strongly closing the gap to 6 seconds to finish in second place.
Julie and Amy teamed up in the Open Light weight double scull, very rare for Mother and Daughter to team up in an Open event especially a Lightweight race. Against a quality field of four double scullers the field split in two with the Corowa/Shoalhaven Underwood crew in a battle with UTS Sydney for 3rd and 4th place. With little more than a length separating the crews the whole course the Underwood’s held the lead as the sprint for the line began. With both crews giving their all the Underwood’s held on by 1/2 a second to claim third place.
The regatta continued on Sunday morning with Julie in the masters single over the 1000m course. Getting out strongly holding a slight lead ,the younger Lake Macquarie sculler made her move with 500m to go. With two leading scullers well clear the Lake Macquarie sculler held on for a three second win.
Day 2
The 500m NSW State Championships got underway and first up again was the U16 single sculls with three heats and first three from each heat moving into the final.
Sienna, who was keen to keep improving after Saturday’s strong row, got out fast sitting in third place after 20 strokes. The race pace picked up with the field making their move as Sienna worked hard over the last 100m to finish in seventh place.
Anastasia was next up needing a top three finish to move into the final. With a tight battle down the course less than 3 seconds separate the four leading scullers. As the scullers made the final sprint for the line Anastasia finished in fourth place missing the final by .3 seconds.
Sommers was the final entry and improving with every row Sommers rowed a well-planned race to finish in third place and moved into the final.
The final featured a strong field of Sydney’s best Junior scullers. Sommers got out and was well placed at the 250m mark. The pace picked up as Sommers moved into fourth place for the sprint to the line. Sommers just missed the bronze medal.
Adelaide was in the U17 single with two heats she needed a top four finish to make the final. Adelaide was out fast, taking the early lead rowing strongly finished comfortably in second place. The final featured eight scullers as Adelaide continued her strong starting speed. Nothing separated the top four scullers with Adelaide working hard and keeping in touch. As the sprint to the line picked up, less than 4 seconds separated the top four girls as Adelaide finished in fourth place.
The first and final of the Male U17 double scull featured the Hogan cousins Lachie and Erik. With limited preparation the boys first row together for a while was heading to the start, but the boys continued their great form from last season to row a strong race and claim the silver medal.
The clubs’ master’s single scullers, Julie and Liz Sandow lined up next. With Liz being the youngest in the event she gave the opposition the handicap head start. Julie got out fast as she took the early lead with Liz in seventh place, with a strong sprint to the line Julie held on for the win while Liz closed the margin.
The next event the U16 double scull featuring Sommers and Eva Broad. Needing a top four finish the Corowa crew cruised in the final finishing in second place. The crew qualified for the final with the sixth fastest time ,needing a strong row to make any impact in the final. The crew responded with a much-improved row moving strongly down the course to finish in fourth place.
The U17 boys raced in the single scull with Lachie taking the lead from the start and record a confidence building heat win.
Erik was in the second heat, in a fastest heat time Erik was unlucky to miss out in the final finishing in fifth place but with a time that would have put him just behind Lachie.
The final featured seven scullers as Lachie continued his great starting speed to take the early lead. The two Hunter Grammar scullers made their move to challenge Lachie, but he responded well to hold on to the lead and claim the gold medal.
The first and final of the FU17 double featured Adelaide and Anastasia, featuring a classy field of Sydney sculls. Adelaide continued her strong starting by taking the early lead. In a tight battle for the medals nothing separated the top four doubles. The sprint for the line saw the Corowa and the Hunter Grammar crews move clear, with less than a second separating the crews at the finish line with Corowa claiming Silver.
The club’s coxed boat race featured Adelaide, Anastasia, Sommers, Eva and Cox Sienna in the U17 quad scull. With four quads lining up for three medals on offer, a great race was expected. The Sydney crew got out fast as the Corowa crew was in a battle for the silver and bronze medals. With nothing separating the crews the Corowa girls got their bow in front to finish 3 seconds behind the Sydney crew and 2 seconds in front of Hunter Grammar to claim the silver medal. Julie teamed up with Susie Scott in the master’s double scull , a tight battle down the course saw the Corowa crew in a 3-way battle in the 6-crew final. As the pace picked up the Corowa crew held of the fast-finishing North Shore crew to win Silver by .2 seconds.
Amy Underwood took out the premier single sculling event, by winning the Open scull for Shoalhaven a fantastic achievement by a lightweight rower.
The club exceeded expectations at the regatta winning two gold and four silver medals at NSW State Sprint Championships and one gold at Saturday’s regatta. An amazing achievement considering the interrupted start to the season. The regatta will give our rowers confidence for the rest of the season. As the river and club gets back to normal anyone who wants to know more about the sport and club is encouraged to call down Monday to Thursday from 4.30pm and Sunday mornings from 9.00am
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