Local rowers have final dig before nationals

AWRC's Mahina Barritt and Ranita Kirk relax after coming third in the Womens Novice double sculls at the Whanganui Rowing Championships on the river on Saturday.

The bad weather held off and the Whanganui River was welcoming for the 235 athletes who took part in the 2018 Whanganui Rowing Championship regatta on the 2km Aramoho course on Saturday.

With the exception of around an hour with some rough water towards the opposite bank, conditions were good on the river where just over 50 finals were completed – some in the combined races with other grades due to smaller boat fields.

As well as the three local clubs of Aramoho Whanganui, Union Boat Club and Wanganui Collegiate, outside competitors came from the Clifton, Horowhenua, Petone, Porirua, Star and Wellington clubs.

As the 2018 Rocket Foods New Zealand Rowing Championships are starting today on Lake Karapiro, several of the leading Aramoho Whanganui club members took a lighter racing schedule on Saturday to keep themselves fresh.

The younger AWRC club members and those from the Collegiate club were represented in most of the events and that showed in the results, as Collegiate rowers had 34 placings in the Top 3 of the A Finals.

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AWRC rowers had 14 Top 3 placings, as did the members of the Union BC.

"There was a really positive vibe around the rowing regatta, with Chief Umpire Jemal Weston doing a fabulous job to ensure events were raced in good water – waited for our river boat washes to fully pass – and ensured his officials put the athletes first all day," said Phillipa Baker-Hogan

"The local clubs are got in behind the before-and-after jobs, and as the Wellington and Levin clubs left I heard them thanking us for a well organised and competitive regatta."

Collegiate had 18 victories in A finals – fronting strongly in coxed eight events with wins in the Boys Under 16 and Under 17, Women's Club, Girls Under 17, Women's Open and Men's Open.

The students also won the coxed four in Women's and Men's Club, as well as Women's Novice, while in the double sculls Collegiate claimed the Women's and Men's Club, Women's and Men's Open, Boys Under 16 and Women's Novice titles.

Individual success came for Jamie Harris in the Women's Club single sculls and the Women's Open – two of the five titles she won on the day when combining in crews racing.

Loftus Stanford won the Men's Open single sculls, among his four titles for a good afternoon.

AWRC won seven titles, four of them in quad sculls racing for the Women's Club coxless, Men's Open coxless, and the Girls Under 16 and Under 17 coxed.

They also claimed the Girls Under 17 double sculls, the Men's Open coxless four, and the Masters coxless four, which was raced over a 1km course instead of regular 2km.

The UBC had five titles won on Saturday, across a range of the sculling disciplines.

Neo Tichbon was the winner of the Boys Under 17 single sculls, while also claiming a title as part of the Boys Under 17 double sculls.

Veteran Pat Carroll won the Masters Single Sculls (1km) race.

UBC's other success was in the Women's Novice coxed quad sculls and Men's Club coxless quad sculls.