Aramoho Whanganui Rowing Club secures Jury Cup

Aramoho Whanganui Rowing Club Captain, Rylee Dudley, holds the Jury Cup amidst her jubilant club squad following the presentation by Whanganui Rowing Association patron, Peter "Oscar" Smith. Photo / Jacs Rush

The Aramoho Whanganui Rowing Club won the coveted Jury Cup for overall points for the first time since 2014 at the Rowing Regatta of the same name, held on the Whanganui River on Saturday, December 9.

While the regatta was running to time on perfect rowing water from 8am, a frustrating wind arose in mid-afternoon which resulted in the regatta being abandoned just after 2pm.

The Jury Cup was first presented by Bill Jury, the Publican of the Aramoho Hotel, in 1929, and has been the subject of many close tussles over subsequent years.

On Saturday, 376 athletes from nine clubs representing Hawke’s Bay, Wellington (four), Taranaki (Clifton) as well local clubs Union Boat Club, Whanganui Collegiate School and Aramoho Whanganui, contested 45 events of the planned 60-event programme.

Many races were keenly contested and kept the judges on their mettle as some extremely tight race placings were only secured over the last few metres.

Points for the trophy are based on five for a win, three for a second placing and one point for a third placing. At the time the regatta was abandoned, Aramoho Whanganui Rowing Club was on 150 points, Whanganui Collegiate School and Star (Wellington) were second equal on 78 points with the Waitara-based Clifton Club on 66 points.

Aramoho Whanganui director of rowing, Axel Dickinson, a former New Zealand rower who has competed and coached at Petone, Waikato, and in the United Kingdom, commented that the Jury Cup, traditionally held in Whanganui annually in December, “is the best regional rowing regatta anywhere outside of the two NZ principal venues at Karapiro and Twizel”.

Dickinson was delighted with the performances of the overall Aramoho Whanganui Team, which has men and women athletes across all the grades of competition, from novices to seniors and he acknowledged his fellow club coaches who have supported the large number of athletes.

The majority of the current squad comes from Whanganui High School, which has seen a resurgence in rowing numbers this season. While the focus has been on sculling, a recent shift to the sweep oar discipline also proved to be effective with several AWRC boats enjoying sweep oar successes in a total of 21 wins.

The Aramoho Whanganui Rowing Club, together with all the other competing clubs, will now progress on to the Karapiro Christmas Regatta this weekend.

Dickinson commented that “this will be a different ball game, with over 2000 athletes competing over three days”. Visiting clubs to Whanganui were very complimentary to the work that has been undertaken by volunteers to significantly improve accessways to the river for visiting rowers, and association president. Philippa Baker-Hogan paid tribute to this group at the presentations.

The opportunity was also undertaken at the formalities to present several awards to members of the Whanganui Rowing Association for their efforts over the past season.

These included: Vodanovich Challenge Cup - Most Outstanding Novice Individual or Crew of the Year - jointly AWRC/WHS N.Maxim & J. Newton with WCS A. McHardy & J MorrahAulsebrook Cup - Most Outstanding Masters Individual/Crew - Clifton RCG. Bergham & K.Dombroski; UBC B.Tate R, Hughes Challenge Cup - Outstanding Single Sculler - Clifton RC M. Neale William Webb Memorial Shield - Outstanding Eight/Octuple - AWRC/WHS Under 15 Octuple: T. Potaka-Osborne-Milner-Skudder, R. Armishaw, M. Emmett, A .McDonough, L. Flack, K. Barnett, F. Tweeddale, A.Jenkins & R. Wood (cox) Wanganui Plumbing Trophy - Top Performing Secondary School At NZ Secondary School Champs - Whanganui High School Wally Sharpe Memorial - Most Outstanding Crew of Year - Clifton Women’s Club Double Sculls Trevor Coker Memorial Oar - Rower of the Year - AWRC Kerri Williams (Nee Gowler).