Graham Croker
Sydney University rowers capped off a medal-laden National Rowing Championship regatta at West Lakes, South Australia on Sunday, when they provided the bulk of the NSW men’s eight crew that won a fourth consecutive King’s Cup.
Stroked by Olympian Daniel Noonan,NSW started strongly and were never headed over the 2000m journey.
The NSW crew of James Chapman (bow), Samuel Loch, Francis Hegerty, Brodie Buckland, Nick Purnell, Matthew Ryan, Fergus Pragnell, Daniel Noonan (stroke) and Toby (cox) finished in 5min 22.08sec ahead of Victoria in 5:24:80 and South Australia in 5:33:49.
“We thought the Victorians were going to jump out at the start so we needed to counteract that” Noonan. “We worked hard at the start and happily it worked out for us and we established a lead pretty quickly.
“By the 1000m mark the race was over. In these conditions (choppy with a tail wind) it’s hard to come back so we all knew that if we held our technique we were in a strong position to win the race. That’s how it turned out.”.
With a big contingent of 43 rowers competing in NSW and club teams at the championships, Sydney University finished third on the overall medal tally and second on the points tally behind Mercantile from Victoria.
Sydney University rowers won eight gold, 14 silver and 11 bronze medals, with a number of standout performances, including Joanna Wood, who won gold in the lightweight women’s quad and silver in the lightweight Under 23 women’s scull.
Australian Rowing Championship – West Lakes, South Australia 7-13 March
Gold:
Open Men’s Eight: Francis Hegarty, Brodie Buckland, Nick Purnell, Matthew Ryan, Fergus Pragnell, Toby Lister (cox)
Open Men’s Coxed Four: Brodie Buckland, Cameron Girdlestone, Richard Allsop, James Goswell and Toby Lister (cox)
Open Women’s Double scull: Sally Kehoe
Open Lightweight Women’s Double Scull: Kylie Duff
Open Women’s Quad Scull: Sally Kehoe
Open Men’s Quad Scull: Nick Hudson
Under 23 Lightweight Women’s Quad Scull: Jo Wood and Marianna Doumanis
Open Lightweight Women’s Quad Scull: Kylie Duff
Silver:
Open Men’s Coxless Pair: Nick Purnell and Sam Loch
Under 23 Lightweight Women’s Single Scull: Joanna Wood
Lightweight Single Scull: Ed de Carvalho
Open Women’s Double scull: Brooke Pratley
Open Men’s Coxless Four: Nick Purnell, Sam Loch, Fergus Pragnell and Matt Ryan
Under 23 Lightweight Women’s Double Scull: Joanna Wood
Under 19 Women’s Coxless Four: Jess Buttel
Under 23 Women’s Quad Scull: Ellie Winstanley
Sarah Cook, Open Women’s Quad Scull:
Under 23 Men’s Quad Scull: Ed de Carvalho, Ryan Edwards, Henry Mander and Tom McClintock
Sasha Belonogoff, Open Men’s Quad Scull:
Under 23 Women’s Eight: Michelle Battersby, Beatrix Sheldrick, Ellie Winstanley, Greta Beale, Sarah Sackville and Gen Fick
Under 23 Men’s Eight: Nick Wheatley, Tom Sacre, Sasha Belonogoff, Nick Purnell, Harry Thomson, Ryan Edwards, Ryan Barraclough, Tim Harley and Will Raven
Bronze:
Open Women’s Single Scull: Sally Kehoe
Open Men’s Coxless Pair: Brodie Buckland (rowing with a Melbourne University athlete)
Under 23 Men’s Coxless Four: Nick Wheatley, Hamish Playfair, Harry Thomson and Tim Harley
Open Women’s Double scull: Sarah Cook
Open Men’s Coxless Four: Francis Hegerty (rowing with three other MUBC rowers)
Open Women’s Quad Scull: Brooke Pratley
Open Women’s Eight: Renee Kirby, Brooke Pratley, Sally Kehoe
