Sydney University rowers were among the medals on the final day of the World Cup II regatta at Lake Aiguebelette, France, on Sunday.
Sally Kehoe, a former SUSF scholarship holder, won gold with Olympia Aldersley in the women’s double scull, edging out Magdalena Fularczyk and Natalia Madaj of Poland for the silver and Meghan O’Leary and Ellen Tomek of the US for bronze. Valuable World Cup points came with the medals.
Kehoe and Aldersley went into the French regatta with form on the board having won the first leg of the World Cup in Sydney. But the semi-finals indicated it would be a close race for gold and that’s how it panned out.
SUSF Elite Athlete Program (EAP) member Chris Cunningham-Reid, and former EAP member Fergus Pragnell collected silver medals when the Australian boat finished behind Great Britain. USA finished third.
And SUBC’s Sasha Belonogoff, another scholarship holder, teamed with James McRae to win bronze in the men’s double scull. The Croatian pairing of brothers Martin and Valent Sinkovic, the reigning world champions, took gold, with Boris Yotov and Aleksandar Aleksandrov of Azerbaijan collecting silver.
The third and final leg of the Rowing World Cup will be raced in Lucerne, Switzerland, in three weeks, with the World Championships to be held in Amsterdam later in the year.
Meanwhile, the Sydney University Boat Club will be hosting a Garden Party on St Andrew’s College oval on Sunday, July 6, to raise funds to send an Under 23 men’s eight, a coxswain, a reserve sculler and two coaches to the Royal Canadian Henley regatta at St Catharines, Canada, in July-August.
SUBC alumni, parents, rowers, supporters and friends are invited to attend the three-course lunch, where the organisers will conduct auctions and raffles with the aim of raising the $70,000 needed to fund the venture. Tickets are $100 a head (or organise a table of 10 for $900.
