Light rain and cool conditions greeted the rowers on day one of the Victorian State Champs over the 2,000m course at Ballarat.
The club’s first competitor was Brad Pearsall in the Club single scull heat. With 2 heats Brad needed a top four finish to make the final. Brad showed all his experience to take control of the race and cruised to the line to take the win and move into the final.
The club entered its first ever female Under 19 quad scull featuring Bella Heagney, Emily Tidd, Clancy Tomlinson, Adelaide Robb, and Coxswain Imogen Tomlinson.
The only club crew in the field of 18-year 12 school crews the Corowa crew were ready for the challenge. Needing at top 2 finish to move into the 6-crew final. The start was even, and nothing separated the crews after 500m. The Corowa crew made their move at the 1000m mark to take the lead and hold onto a great win and into the final.
Next up was Abbyghail Richards in the Under 21 single featuring 4 scullers in the final. The favourite from Melbourne Uni took the lead as Abby battled with the Banks sculler for second and third. Abby made her move with 500m to go to push into second place and claim the silver medal a great achievement for her first 2000m race for the season.
Brad lined up in the 8-sculler final determined to get a medal. Brad kept pace with the field before he made his move and in a close battle over the last 500m he moved into second place and the silver medal.
The final race for the club in the morning session was the final for the quad scull with 6 quads. After a clean start all crews settled into their rhythm with the Corowa crew right in the mix at the 1000m mark. As the crews picked up the pace the Corowa crew were in for a battle for the bronze medal with Geelong Grammar. In a close battle to the finish the Geelong crew held on with Corowa finishing in fourth place.
Saturday afternoon saw the two Corowa Female U19 double sculls line up in the 8-crew final. The field featured two composite doubles from the NSW State Championships and a quality field of scullers from within the State.
After an even start the Corowa crews were positioned at the 1000m mark before Adelaide and Anastasia McFarlane made a move and pushed into third place. Emily And Bella had a tough row and battled throughout the course to finish in sixth place while Adelaide and Anastasia held on for the bronze medal.
Sunday Day 2
Racing on Sunday was over the 1000m course with wind and light rain greeting the rowers.
The masters’ single sculls were cancelled with Corowa’s Julie Underwood missing the mornings row.
Racing got underway with the Female B grade quad featuring Clancy Tomlinson, Abbyghail, Emily, Bella and coxswain Imogen Tomlinson having a strong heat race to lead all the way to take the win. With 8 crews lining up in the final a close battle down the course with the Richmond crew saw Corowa cross the line to claim the silver medal.
The Female C grade double scull saw two Corowa crews entered with Anastasia teaming with Tinks Hamilton and Eva Broad with Imogen. Both crews had great heat races with the Corowa crews moving through to the final.
The two heat winners Richmond and Corowa moved out in front as the race pace picked up Richmond again held on over Anastasia and Tinks while Eva and Imogen were in a race for the bronze medal falling just short by less than a second in fourth place.
The club was well represented in the Under 17 events with Spencer Holland and Lachie Hogan in the double scull.
The final had a full field of 8 crews from across the State as the Corowa and Gippsland Grammar crews moved clear with The Corowa double winning silver.
The new combination of Adelaide and Anastasia teamed up in the Female U17 double. In tough conditions the Corowa combination took the early lead and held on to claim gold in front of a late challenge from the Ballarat Grammar crew.
Adelaide raced in the single scull coming second in her heat moving into the 6-crew final.
The final saw the conditions prove difficult as Adelaide was placed well at the 500m as a gust caused her to miss her stroke and fall in. Adelaide got back in her boat and finished the race.
Brodie Julian was the clubs only entry in the C grade single and he was determined to have a strong row. In a controlled heat row in tough conditions Brodie settled into third place and into the final. Brodie had his best row on the season in the final, getting out in front from the start and racing down the course leading all the way to win gold.
Our Under 15 girls Sommers Hogan and Sienna McFarlane raced the double scull and rowed well in the conditions claiming the silver medal from a Composite Crew from Melbourne and Ballarat. Sommers also competed in the single scull and in a battle with the Ballarat sculler Sommers had a great row to win silver.
The club entered a C grade 8 featuring Abbyghail, Emily, Bella, Julie, Tinks, Tamasin, Liz, Clancy, and Cox Adelyn Holland. The bigger boat pushed through the choppy conditions moving into second place behind the local Ballarat crew to claim another silver medal.
The Male C grade quad featured Erik Hogan, Lachie Hogan, Brodie, Liam Fitzgerald and first time Cox 8-year-old Harvey McFarlane. The Corowa crew has been impressive at training and showed great form wining their heat and move into the 8-crew final. The Corowa team with Harvey in control of the steering, took the lead from the start and rowed a great race to claim the gold medal.
5°C