Sydney University Boat Club (SUBC) have retained their title as the leading elite club in NSW with a dominant performance at the NSW State Rowing Championships, winning both the point score and medal tally.
The event doubled up as the first key selection event for the 2018 Australian Rowing Team, and the results put forward by our senior athletes place them in a strong position leading into the formalised national selection trials.
Key results for the club came through the bigger boats, with SUBC taking out the double in the Men’s and Women’s Elite Eight’s, the first time this had been done by any club since 2011, when SUBC last claimed this feat. The Women’s race went exactly to plan, with a fast start, a well-paced middle, and blistering finish, the crew held off strong competition form Mercantile for the victory. The crew was Dani Pettit, Gen Horton, Rowena Meredith, Georgie Gotch, Fiona Ewing, Dyone Bettega, Lauran Fornasaro, Carina Simpson and Rach Balcomb.
The Men’s race wasn’t as clear cut, the crew was overpowered by its strong bowside off the start, resulting in a not ideal first 500m, giving away a small margin to the rest of the field, the crew rallied through the middle thousand, and began reeling back the leading crews from Sydney Rowing Club and Mercantile, coming into the last 500 it was neck and neck between SRC and SUBC, with the SUBC crew winding home with a 1:21 last 500m, the crew went on to win by clear water over the field. The crew was Will Raven, Alex Purnell, Jack Hargreaves, Jack O’Brien, Cam Girdlestone, Campbell Watts, Nick Purnell, David Bartholot and Andrew Judge.
The youth eights also showed strong form for the future of the club with the men claiming victory and returning the ‘Colleagues Cup’ back to SUBC for the first time since 2011. The women performed well, however had to settle for silver behind the Victorian crew from Mercantile.
The Men’s race was a start to finish domination with the crew leading at every marker, and extending their lead as the race went on. The crew was Charlie Nicholas, Jack O’Brien, Leon Chambers, Will O’Shannessy, Marcus Britt, Kieran Riach, Lochie Miles, Devlin Walsh and Matthew Murray.
The women had a blistering start, and along with Mercantile cleared out on the rest of the field, however the experience of the Mercantile crew proved too strong through the second thousand. The crew was Talia Barnet, Wallis Russell, Rach Balcomb, Ella Mentzines, Jess Robinson, Mia Johnson, Jaime Ford, Raquel Cuevas and Sarah Parsons.
Being a selection event, the small boats were in many instances the most important racing of the regatta. For the first time the men’s NTC decided to double up all the sweep athletes, to compete in both the single scull and the pairs. This decision resulted in one of the strongest sculling fields that Australia has ever witnessed for the men.
SUBC has a strong presence in the men’s scull with the club claiming Silver (Cam Girdlestone), 4th (Jack Hargreaves) and 6th (Nick Purnell in the A-final, with Campbell Watts coming off illness to take victory in the B-Final, with up and coming athlete David Bartholot hot on his tail, claiming second in the B-Final.
The men’s pair saw SUBC well represented with Jack Hargreaves claiming Bronze, Nick Purnell claiming 4th, and the U23 pair of Jack Obrien and Andrew Judge claiming 5th in the A-final. Alex Purnell won the B-Final.
The women’s scull saw SUBC with three athletes in the A-Final, with Gen Horton claiming Silver, Rowena Meredith in 5th and Fiona Ewing in 7th.
The women’s pair A-Final contained one SUBC athlete, with Georgie Gotch finishing in 4th.
The lightweight women’s scull saw SUBC represented by 2017 world silver medallist Georgia Miansarow, who claimed the bronze medal.
Medals in the underage small boat events for the club proved that SUBC are not only strong in the elite, but are one of the key development clubs in the country. In the U19 men’s single Kieran Riach claimed Bronze. In the U21 men’s single Matthew Murray claimed silver. In the U21 lightweight women’s single Michaela Franz claimed Bronze.
In the U23 lightweight women’s single Wallis Russell claimed Gold. In the U23 lightweight men’s single Leon Chambers claimed Gold. In the U23 women’s pair Lauren Fornasaro and Dyone Bettega claimed Silver. In the U23 men’s pair Andrew Judge and Jack O’Brien claimed Gold. In the U21 men’s pair Will O’Shannessy and Marcus Britt claimed Silver.
Crew boat medals came from a mixture of club and composite crews, as combinations for the nationals were tested out. Along with the three gold and a silver already mentioned in the eights, SUBC crew boat results were strong. In the Women’s Elite double Gen Horton claimed Gold, with the full SUBC crew of Rewena Meredith and Fiona Ewing claiming Silver.
In the Men’s Elite double Campbell Watts claimed Bronze while in the Men’s Elite four Nick Purnell claimed Gold. In the U21 lightweight women’s double Michaela Franz and Sarah Parsons claimed Gold. In the U23 lightweight women’s double Wallis Russell claimed Gold and in the U23 lightweight men’s double Leon Chambers claimed Gold.
In the LTA coxed four Will Raven claimed Silver. In the lightweight women’s quad Lizzie Treloar claimed Silver. In the men’s Elite quad Campbell Watts claimed Gold, with Devlin Walsh, Morgan Brooking, Kieran Riach and David Bartholot claiming Bronze.
On the pro-rata medal table, SUBC claimed 9 Gold, 7.25 Silver and 5 Bronze. On the point score the club finished up with 180 points, nearly 30 clear of the closest competitor. Congratulations to all athletes and thanks to all coaches, support staff, rowing NSW and Sydney Uni Sport & Fitness for their contributions to such strong results for the club.
Full results HERE.
