Rowers shine at SI champs

The medals kept on coming for the Marlborough contingent at the South Island Rowing Championships staged at Lake

Ruataniwha

over the weekend.

The Blenheim club’s colours were well represented on the podium amid the more than 1200 competitors in action, the Marlborough Boys’ College lads bagging eight medals and grabbing a fourth placing in another A final.

Head coach John Robinson said, “they all performed very well”.

“We are ahead of where we were at this time last year so hopefully it will carry on through the season.”

He was particularly impressed with the efforts of the club pair, comprising Fred Vavasour and Dylan Burton, who picked up silver, suggesting “they can get even better”.

The under-17 quad picked up gold and showed they are well on track for a big effort at Maadi [Cup] while James Fitzgerald underlined his promise and resilience with a series of top performances which earned him three medals.

The Wairau group, comprising Marlborough Girls’ College athletes plus a few more experienced club rowers, picked up six medals, while several other crews came close to the podium, finishing fourth in seven A finals.

Sean O’Neill, who coaches the MGC contingent, was happy with his charges.

“Overall, they are on the up, we had plenty of positive results as we build towards Maadi.”

He pointed to the under-16 four’s silver medal-winning effort as a standout, plus the under-17 four and the club eight, who “beat some high-quality crews”. He also praised the work of Meg Flanagan and Lexi Timpson, who narrowly missed a medal in the senior pair A final.

Although the Wairau novice crews narrowly missed medals, the fact they were so close to the podium offered plenty of optimism going forward, said Sean.

Picton

turned in their usual strong showing, coming home with five medals and narrowly missing a couple of others.

Their efforts were highlighted by a silver medal in the men’s premier eight, plus bronze in the men’s premier four. Ryan Gaudin and Will Johnstone also claimed gold in the men’s senior pair. The women’s club pair of teens Charlotte Lightfoot and Jamie Cunningham claimed silver.

An eight-strong Central RPC contingent also featured, all rowers medalling. Former national junior representative Kobe Miller showed he is on the comeback trail after illness blighted his 2020 campaign, winning two golds and a bronze. The inexperienced women’s quad also excelled, picking up silver in a tough contest.

RPC head coach Marion Horwell said Kobe “stroked really well ... he is a real racer and really good as part of a team”.

She was especially rapt with the effort of the youthful women’s quad. “It’s so cool when you are an underdog – they had nothing to lose and got excited. It was the first time they had raced together.

“All the rowers are putting what they have been training out there in racing, which is quite hard to do. I’m looking forward to nationals with them.”

The Gaudin brothers worked well together in the

Picton

premier four.

Results:

WAIRAU

Girls under-15 quad (Ella Barnes, Poppy Lane, Grace Straker, Hazel Glover, Olive Paterson) – 4th

in A final

Men’s senior single (Logan Docherty) – SILVER

Women’s club eight (Daisy Vavasour, Paige

Materoa

, Meg Flanagan, Liv Theodore, Emma Flanagan, Holly Feltham, Lily Crawford, Molly Glover, Lara Bacchus) - SILVER

Women’s senior pair (Meg Flanagan, Lexi Timpson) – 4

th

in A final

Men’s senior double (Logan Docherty, Lawrence Birch) – BRONZE

Women’s club pair (Lily Crawford, Paige

Materoa

) – 4

th

in A final

Women’s novice eight (Ella Barnes, Liv Matthews, Jorja Bacchus, Anika

Moetaua

, Grace Straker, Hazel Glover, Jess Bennet, Alice Paterson, Lara Bacchus) – 4

th

in A final

Women’s intermediate single (Bridgitte O’Leary) - GOLD

Women’s novice four (Grace Straker, Liv Matthews, Jorja Bacchus, Anika

Moetaua

, Li Na Chapman) – 4

th

in A final

Girls under-17 four (Holly Feltham, M

olly Glover, Maggie Lane, Paige

Materoa

) – BRONZE

Girls under-16 four (D

aisy Vavasour, Lexi Timpson, Emma Flanagan, Molly Glover) – SILVER

Women’s novice quad (Anika

Moetaua

, Liv Matthews, Jorja Bacchus, Alice Paterson, Li Na Chapman) – 4

th

in A final

Women’s club double (Bridgitte O’Leary, Leigha Stormont) – 4

th

in A final

BLENHEIM

Boys under-15 octuple sculls (G

eorge Lindstrom, Shane Henry, Korban Chevis, Kiarn Collins, Hunter Nelson, Aden Hall, Blake Fitzgerald, Aston Underwood, Tyran Carter) - BRONZE

Men’s club single (Fred Vavasour) BRONZE

Boys under- 17 double (Leon

Poswillo

, James Fitzgerald) - BRONZE

Men’s intermediate coxed four (Fred Vavasour, Sam Feltham, Dylan Burton, Rhys Salvador, Walter Wickham) – GOLD

Boys under-15 double (S

hane Henry, George Lindstrom) – BRONZE

Boys under-16 coxed quad (Lochy

Gilmour, Jack Stevens, Adam Cairns, Dylan Locke, Fergus Campbell) – 4

th

in A final

Boys under-17 coxed quad (S

am Feltham, James Fitzgerald, Rhys Salvador, Dylan Burton, Walter Wickham) – GOLD

Men’s club pair (Fred Vavasour, Dylan Burton) – SILVER

Boys under-17 single (

James Fitzgerald) – BRONZE

PICTON

Men’s senior single (Mark Patterson) - 4

th

A final

Men’s senior pair (Ryan Gaudin, Will Johnstone) – GOLD

Men’s senior double (Keiran Gaudin, Hayden Gaudin) - 4

th

A final

Women’s club pair (Charlotte Lightfoot, Jamie Cunningham) – SILVER

Men’s premier four (Keiran Gaudin, Ryan Gaudin, Shae Gaudin, Hayden Gaudin) – BRONZE

Men’s club quad (Keiran Gaudin, Hayden Gaudin, Simon Lloyd, Matthias Alexander) – BRONZE

Men’s premier eight (Keiran Gaudin, Shae Gaudin, Ryan Gaudin, Hayden Gaudin, Greg McLaughlin, Mark Patterson, Simon Smith, Will Johnstone, Cameron Leydon) – SILVER

CENTRAL RPC

Men’s premier single (Kobe Miller) - BRONZE

Men’s premier double (Kobe Miller, Luke Brady) - GOLD

Women’s premier quad (Mollie Nichol, Alice Fahey, Sarah Wootton, Phoebe Collier) – SILVER

Men’s premier quad (Kobe Miller, Luke Brady, Arie

Magasiva

, Oliver Fahey) - GOLD