So the Victorian State Championships for another year are complete. This year we were all excited to head back to Lake Nagambie but with the windy conditions that greeted us on Sunday you would be forgiven for mistaking it for Lake Wendouree at Ballarat. If you think I’m exaggerating you should ask Vicki Brennan and Jodie Naisbitt what it was like just getting to the start line for the WD2X 😉
The morning session saw a few Richmond crews in straight finals with six or seven total crews entered per event. So with no warm up race they took to the water and battled the conditions and the other crews each proudly coming away with bronze medals. There was the hotly contested Female C8+ (Sophia Robinson, Karen Doggett, Ainsley Raggatt, Kate Cooper, Geraldine Goss, Michelle Joy, Rochelle Stokes, Kate Dyball and cox Mike Numa), Male C2- (Sam Morrison and Ben van Biljon) and Male D4+ (David Micallef, Kieran Burke, PJ Eadie, Daniel Meka and cox Roy Zhang) which had some inter as well as intra club competition.
The medals kept coming in the afternoon session as well with more bronze bling going to the Female C2X (Michelle Joy and Karen Doggett), Male B4+ (Tim foster, Sam Morrison, Ben van Biljon, George Hartley and cox Vanessa van Biljon) and Female D4X+ (Ainsley Raggatt, Catherine Hardie, Lindsey Beck, Caroline Manning and cox Mike Numa). Along with her quad medal Carolyn Manning also braved the conditions in the single finishing an impressive fourth in the C1X final and going one better over the 2km course picking up bronze in the B1X.
We didn’t just stop at bronze medals though we had some excellent results for the Female D4+ (Emily Dunn, Kate Cooper, Catherine Hardie, Lindsey Beck coxed by Derek Begg), Male D4X+ (Michael Calvert, Michael Gehling, Alan Randall, PJ Eadie and cox Rebecca Lionnet) and Female D8+ (Erin Faulkner, Stephanie Dudczig, Sarah Ryan, Thalia Marshall, Sarah McNicol, Shern Timmins, Karin Bouvin, Elaine Hynes and cox Derek Begg) who all fought their way to silver medals.
The competition was strong and although we may not have come away champions this year I think the spread of medals, and other great results across so many different competitors in different grades and different classes of boats is a real testament to a great season at RRC. As usual a big thanks to everyone who contributed to the success on the day and in all the training and build up to the event – rowers, coxes, coaches and supporters. A special mention to Tim Evans who towed the trailer and Barry Campbell who completed our BRO duties.
Don’t forget the sprint season isn’t over yet and if you want to attend either the Footscray and Essendon sprint regattas or the Mildura Easter weekend away regatta please contact [email protected] as soon as possible for more information and then there’s Masters Season….
