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We were welcomed with good conditions early on but the conditions changed shortly after and a big headwind faced all crews. Though the conditions were rough, the rowers performed very well.  The men’s C eight of Alaaddin, Pat, Matt, Airtarn, Henry, Will, Joel, Chris and Eli were first up. A lack of knowledge of the course cost the crew dearly, however it provided a valuable experience which helped them in their other races later in the day. The men’s C quad event saw a Nepean crew in each of the three divisions. The first division was won by Henry, Alaaddin Joel and Chris while Jooya, Pat, Campbell and Will took out the third division.
Pat teamed up with Chris in the C grade double and took out a win. Chris was able to build on this with a win in the C single shortly after. Pat raced later that day with Jooya in what was meant to be the men’s D double however they mixed up their event time and instead took part in the novice double which they convincingly lead from start to finish but were sadly informed of their mistake at the conclusion of the race. The men’s D four of Henry, Will, Joel, Chris and Eli were only one hundred metres away from the finish when they caught a crab and their three length lead was brought in very quickly by the St George crew. The boys were able to recover and pushed hard to the line to take the win with less than half a second separating themselves and St George. Victoria had another successful regatta, she took out the women’s B single, women’s C single and the women’s B double with Tallara who had earlier that day taken out second in the women’s B single.  This was the first year that has seen both regattas held on the same weekend. We had good conditions on both days of racing and it presented good weather for fast times The Saturday saw the girls take to the water. First up was the schoolgirl year 9 single which saw Elizabeth and Victoria both representing their school, Penrith Christian School. Elizabeth was unable to progress to the final, but was able to pull a personal best by thirteen seconds. Victoria claimed second in her heat to qualify for the final. The final saw everyone go out hard and Victoria got into second place early with the winner, who claimed silver in the under 16 single at State Championships a few weeks prior, pushing off early. Victoria was pushed to the line by a Hunter Valley rower, however she was able to push off in the later stages of the race, to claim the silver.  Raquel competed for Cherrybrook Technology High School in the schoolgirl single. Being a bottom age competitor, in being in year 11, Raquel raced well to place first in her heat and progress to the final, where she went away with sixth place.  The next day, was the boys turn. First up was Angus in the year 10 single. Angus had a well-paced race and claimed silver, and was just four seconds from a Kings sculler who claimed first place. The schoolboy singles were up next. Chris and Joel were drawn in the same heat, Chris and Joel were in the front pack, but Chris was unable to hold on as the race progressed and slipped from the important fourth place and was knocked out. Joel claimed third and progressed to the final where he took out sixth place. Ryan competed in the schoolboy single and Sam in the year 10 single and though both were unable to progress to finals, they represented their schools (Penrith Christian School and St Pauls Grammar respectively) for the first time and raced their first 2km singles. The final event for the day was Jooya and Miles in the year 8 double. Having to compete against older competition due to their young ages, this race presented them the first opportunity to finally verse rowers their own age. The boys pushed to a lead early, and held out St Augustines and St Josephs to claim the gold.  |
