Gloomy Start to a Good Day
It was a damp start to the second day of the 2021 Aon Australian Rowing Championships, with rain drizzling over Lake Barrington as athletes warmed up for the morning’s races. However, the rain cleared, leaving stunning conditions for the repechages from yesterday’s heats. The athletes took to the water and raced under the low hanging clouds with barely a ripple on the water.
Day two saw more of the Australian Rowing Team in action, including the sweep and lightweight rowers. The weather was unusual with the winds shifting to a slight tail breeze for the Open Pairs which saw some cracking racing from the nation’s best: the sweep squads from the National Training Centres.
Mercantile’s Katrina Werry and West Australian Rowing Club’s Giorgia Patten took the first heat of the women’s event followed by Adelaide Rowing Club’s Olympia Aldersey and Huon’s Sarah Hawe to secure their places in the A-Final; they will be joined by 2019 World Championship silver medallists, Jess Morrison (Mercantile Rowing Club) and Annabelle McIntyre (Fremantle Rowing Club), who posted a win in 7:07.45, clear water ahead of the Banks/Melbourne University combination of Rosie Popa and Lucy Stephan who will also progress through.
The first heat for the Open Men’s Pair saw three crews charge to the line to try and secure the straight progression, however it was the Sydney Rowing Club combination of Sam Hardy and Joshua Hicks who crossed first over Benjamin Canham of Mercantile Rowing Club and Sam Marsh Swan River Rowing Club with only a 0.33 second gap back to Nick Lavery (UTS) and Angus Widdicombe (Mercantile) who will need to race the repechage tomorrow. The Adelaide Rowing Club combination, of Alex Hill and newly named Australian Rowing Team member Angus Dawson, led the second heat from the start, controlling the race and crossing first ahead of the Sydney University crew of Marcus Britt and Jack O’Brien who will also progress directly through to the final.
A stacked Open Lightweight Women’s Single Scull heat saw named Australian Rowing Team members, Georgia Nesbitt (Huon) and Sarah Pound (UTS), challenged by Adelaide Rowing Club’s sculler Verayna Zilm in the opening stages. The lead changed through the 1000m mark as Pound surged ahead, however it was reigning champion, Nesbitt, who regained control of the race through the third 500 and held on to the advantage through the closing stages of the race setting a swift 7:52.69, the fastest qualifying time, securing herself, alongside Pound, a place in the A-Final.
Earlier in the day the repechages took place, with the fastest time posted for the Under 17 Women’s Single Scull repechages was by Loreto Kirribilli’s Alyssa Fikkers, coached by Lachlan Allen and Michael Bernerius, with a time of 8:55.79, while the male equivalent saw the fastest time clocked by Sydney Rowing Club’s Finn Woodward, 8:02.42, with the young athlete coached by Brendan Longman and Donovan Cech.
The Under 19 Women’s Single Scull repechages were a fraction more spread out, with UTS’s Sarah Fahd, coached by Hally Chapman and Alex Field, looking very in control of her race, crossing the line fastest with a time of 8:45.29. In the male equivalent, Gippsland Grammar’s Thomas Condron posted the fastest time of the morning with a 7:46.63, fifteen seconds faster than the earlier repechage taken out by University of Queensland’s Harry Nott.
The Under 19 pairs were racing today for positions in either the A- or B- Finals. A late charge from the Nudgee crew of Rodin and Connor Martin saw the fourth placed Queenslanders make a push at the 1500m mark to take the final spot in the A-Final behind Mosman’s Kyle Brown and Tom Gerrans; they will be joined by Tasmania University’s Harry Bevan and Angus Paynter and Torrens Rowing Club’s Joshua Felderhof and Oliver Smart in the final that races on Thursday morning. The women’s event saw a clear distinction between crews progressing from the repechage with the Wesley College, St Peter’s Girls’ School, Sydney Rowing Club and Derwent Mercantile Collegiate Rowing Club all successfully qualifying their pairs through to the A Final.
The Under 21 Men’s Single Scull saw tight finishes, pushing the race leaders to the line and requiring the photo finish images to determine the all-important progressions for three of the five repechages with results for all races available here . Comparatively across the board, times from all repechages were on par to what was posted yesterday – which should make for interesting semi-finals tomorrow as crews battle out for the A-Finals on Thursday.
Sydney University’s Eleanor Price looked comfortable out in front of the Under 23 Women’s Single Scull repechage. Price clearly led the field from the start and will progress through to the A-Final along with Lilli Reardon from ANU; they will be joined by Reardon’s ANU teammate, Nicola Greenland, and Lili Wrigley of North Esk.
The Under 23 Women’s Pair was a tough contest with only the top two of each repechage progressing to the A-Final; the Sydney Rowing Club combination of Lauren Graham and Isabelle Furrer finished only 0.77 seconds ahead of the the fast-finishing Kand Rowing Club combination of Leukie Smith and Jess Scott. They will be joined by Melbourne University crew of Lily Cathcart and Laura Foley, and Adelaide Rowing Club’s Ella Bramwell and Katelyn Nicholson.
The afternoon saw the weather swing to a direct tail down the course, which some of the less experienced crews battled with, however the Under 23 Men’s Double Scull from Sydney Rowing Club handled themselves expertly in the challenging conditions, with the duo of Harry Crouch and Torun Olsson recording a speedy 6:25.32 in their heat, showing themselves to be the crew to watch in the final on Friday.
Tomorrow will see the bigger boats out in force as more of the coxed and coxless fours and quadruple sculls will take to the water; the Under 19 eights at the end of the day’s racing will be the first of the nine-person crew boats to race at this event. Tune in on the livestream from 8am AEST to catch the underage small boat semi-finals and see who will be making it through to finals on Thursday.