The club travelled to Wyaralong Dam on the Gold Coast for the 2017 Australian University Games, the contingent of athletes consisted on a good mixture of youth and experience. With what would have to be the best overall performance of Sydney University at AUG’s in the last few years, winning both the Men’s, Women’s and Overall point score over the three days of racing.
A total of nine men and thirteen women were part of the SUBC team, in many cases having a smaller contingent than other universities with a number of athletes competing in four different boat classes over the three-day period.
The first day of heats saw the club dominate in most categories, with particularly impressive results in the bigger boats, with both the men’s and women’s eight producing wins by lengths of clear water over the field. These results trickled down into the medium boats, with the men’s and women’s coxed fours and the lightweight women’s quad progressing comfortably to book centre lanes for the A-Finals. Many small boats showed great form also progressing directly through to Friday’s finals.
The second day consisted of the repechages for a number of smaller boats, with all SUBC crews doing what was needed to qualify for the A-Final, placing the university in the best possible place, with every crew we entered qualifying in the top eight ranking in their respective event. Thursday also saw the mixed events being raced, with an eight and coxed four. The mixed four came out well, sitting with the field in the early stages of the 1000m race, with an impressive build to the line, they moved clear of the field to win comfortably. The eight was a similar story, with the crew starting slightly better than the rest of the field, and dominating the second half of the race to claim the victory.
Friday saw the racing of finals. The schedule was brought forward to account for anticipated winds. The club had many impressive performances, with a credit to all crews of racing the full 2000m even when out of medal contention.
Notable performances for the women came in the form of a strong Silver in the women’s eight, beating Melbourne Uni by a number of lengths, whilst UQ were out in front. This is particularly impressive with the upcoming Australian Boat Race, being the first time the women have beaten Melbourne in an intervarsity eight in a number of years. Other strong showings on the women’s side came from the women’s coxed four claiming Gold, the women’s lightweight quad claiming Gold and Wallis Russell taking Gold in the lightweight women’s single, capping off three golds and a silver for the week of racing.
The men showed they were back to their rightful place at the top of Australian Rowing, taking wins in the pair, coxed four and eight. Notable mention must go to Jack Hanley with a close fourth in the lightweight men’s scull, Andrew Judge and Jacob Bicknell for claiming four Golds over the week, and to cox Will Raven for being part of his fourth Win in the Oxford and Cambridge Cup, Men’s Eight, a feat not many have done before.
The regatta also capped off a great season for the club, and as such a number of members have met the criteria for a University Blue, with Uni Games Victory being the final task to be achieved for a number of athletes.
Key Results
Gold:
Mixed Four; Anna O’Hanlon, Jack Hanley, Morgan Brooking, Lizzie Treloar and Laura Triggs.
Mixed Eight; Bec Harrison, Leon Chambers, Jacob Bicknell, Andrew Judge, Marcus Britt, Wallis Russell, Harriet Hudson, Georgie Masters and Dyone Bettega.
Women’s Coxed Four; Anna O’Hanlon, Harriet Hudson, Dyone Bettega, Laura Triggs and Adelaide Scott.
Women’s Lightweight Quad; Wallis Russell, Georgie Masters, Lizzie Treloar and Bec Humphris.
Women’s Lightweight Single; Wallis Russell.
Men’s Coxed Four; William Raven, Leon Chambers, Jacob Bicknell, Andrew Judge and Marcus Britt.
Men’s Pair; Jacob Bicknell and Andrew Judge.
Men’s Eight; William Raven, Leon Chambers, Jacob Bicknell, Andrew Judge, Marcus Britt, Morgan Brooking, Harry Wright, Jayson Gilchrist and Jack Hanley.
Silver:
Women’s Eight; Bec Harrison, Wallis Russell, Georgie Masters, Harriet Hudson, Laura Triggs, Dyone Bettega, Adelaide Scott, Jaime Ford and Olina Parish.
