2019 Under 21 Trans Tasman Regattas

The first leg of the 2019 Trans-Tasman Regatta was conducted at the Sydney International Rowing Regatta, Penrith, New South Wales. The first leg ran from 27 June to 29 June, while the second leg was held at Lake Karapiro, in New Zealand, from 22 to 24 August. 

This is a point score team event with points awarded in finals as follows:

W1x, M1x, W2- and M2-
1st – 6 points, 2nd – 4 points, 3rd – 2 points and 4th – 1 point

LW2x, LM2x, W4-, M4-, W4x, M4x, W8+ and M8+
1st – 6 points and 2nd – 4 points

LW1x, LM1x and MixL2x
1st – 2 points and 2nd – 1 point

Medals are awarded to the first-placed boat in each category.

New Zealand won the overall points tally to take home the Rusty Robinson trophy, for the first time since 2015, leading the count 288 to Australia’s 270 points.

Australian Team at Lake Karapiro

Racing

First series at SIRC

RA reported as follows on the first series:

Day 1 od the Under 21 Trans-Tasman Regatta began in Penrith, with small boat racing – both morning heats and afternoon finals were raced in perfect conditions and in front of a crowd of vocal supporters from both nations.

The Australian team has been in team camp since last Saturday and dealt with a significant number of injury and illness concerns which have impacted the make up of the team.

Both sessions provided some great racing against a very strong and competitive New Zealand team. Australia came away with five gold medals in the finals: Women’s lightweight double scull (Katelin Douglas and Alexandra Moylan), Men’s lightweight double scull (Oscar McGuinness and Tom Williamson), Women’s Pair (Lauren Graham and Isabelle Furrer), Men’s Pair (Jack Barrett and Logan Ullrich) and Women’s Lightweight Single Scull (Celia Cowan).

A highlight for day 1 was lightweight reserve athlete Connor Ryan, racing four races across the day – heat and final in his own lightweight category and also heat and final in the heavyweight category, due to illness.  At the end of the first day of racing New Zealand leads Australia by 10 points, 73 – 83.

Day 2 of the Trans-Tasman regatta was again raced in perfect conditions, though New Zealand extended their lead over the illness-ridden Australian team.

Despite the illness, there was some great close racing in all races. The highlight for the team was the Women’s quad (Katelin Douglas, Celia Cowan, Adelaide Scott and Katelyn Nicholson) who reversed their result from the morning heat to afternoon final to come away with the gold medal. Points at the conclusion of day two are New Zealand 133, Australia 107.

The final day of racing (Saturday) at the Trans-Tasman regatta was delayed due to heavy fog over SIRC. This resulted in the break between morning heats and afternoon finals sessions shortened significantly.

Regardless, performances from both teams were admirable, with close results in all races. Australia’s men’s 8+ won the morning heat, though unfortunately were unable to repeat the performance in the afternoon.

Australia fought hard, however the final points score at the end of the first leg of the series is New Zealand 155, Australia 125. Both teams will come together again to race the second regatta on Lake Karapiro, New Zealand from 22 – 24 August.

Thanks must go to Team Manager, Christine MacLaren, Head Coach, Brett Crow, the coaching team of Lachlan Carter, Hally Chapman, Leo Karadimitris and Brendan Long and support staff Dr Alice McNamara and Elyse Bradbury – all handled the challenging week commendably and will no doubt be looking forward to seeing what a healthy team can produce for the second regatta.

Second series at Lake Karapiro

RA reported as follows:

22 August saw the opening of the second leg of the U21 Trans-Tasman Regatta with racing in tough, wet and windy conditions at Lake Karapiro in New Zealand. Canada have joined New Zealand and Australia at this leg of the regatta, although Canada, whist eligible for medals, do not accumulate points for the Rusty Robertson Trophy.

Australia handled the difficult conditions well in the morning, but New Zealand performed better in the clearer conditions for the finals in the afternoon. Australia collected three of the eight gold medals on offer. Isabelle Furrer and Lauren Graham (both Sydney Rowing Club) took gold in the Women’s Pair, Tom Williamson (Toowong Rowing Club) and Connor Ryan (North Esk Rowing Club) in the Lightweight Men’s Double Scull, and Celia Cowan (Adelaide University Boat Club) in the Lightweight Women’s Single Scull. A tough race for the line by Logan Ulrich and Miller Rowe (both Kand Rowing Club) in the Men’s Coxless Pair saw the crew just miss out on the gold medal.

New Zealand took the remaining medals on day one.

The accumulation of points have brought Australia closer to New Zealand in the points tally, now trailing 206 to New Zealand’s 228.

Australia picked up three of the five gold medals on offer today in New Zealand at the U21 Trans-Tasman Regatta.Today’s (23 August) second leg of racing saw Australia and New Zealand, along with Canada, battle it out in the medium boats and also the Mixed Double Scull.

One of the highlights of today’s racing on Lake Karapiro was the performances of the Men’s Under 21 Four of Benjamin Pincus, Jethro Gifford ( both Toowong Rowing Club), Logan Ulrich and Miller Rowe (both Kand Rowing Club). The crew, who have been coached by Brendan Long, won both their heat and final to lead the charge for gold medals on offer. The Men’s Quadruple Scull of Tom Williamson (Toowong Rowing Club), Jack Barrett, Joseph Wilson and Connor Ryan (all North Esk Rowing Club) bounced back from a difficult first race to a convincing win in the final. The Mixed Lightweight Double scull of Hamish Harding (ANU Boat Club) and Celia Cowan (Adelaide University Boat Club) raced well in both races and also come home with a gold medal.

Both the Women’s Four and the Women’s Quadruple Scull were outclassed by their New Zealand counterparts in both boat classes, with the Australians finishing some 10 seconds behind their rivals. Head Coach Brett Crow said “The competition so far has been in classic Kiwi raining weather. We are hoping for flat conditions and nail biting racing tomorrow in the Eights.”

In the points for the Rusty Robinson Trophy, Australia trail New Zealand 248 to 270

The final day of the Under 21 Trans-Tasman Regatta saw the best conditions of the regatta and despite Australia’s strong performance across the last three days, and winning the second leg with 145 points to New Zealand’s 133, Australia were unable to retain the Rusty Robertson Trophy. New Zealand won the overall points tally to take home the Rusty Robinson trophy, for the first time since 2015, leading the count 288 to Australia’s 270 points.

Women's eight in NZL

A sunny although blustery morning saw great performances by the Under 21 Men’s Eight of Tom Williamson, Benjamin Pincus, Jethro Gifford (all Toowong Rowing Club) Miller Rowe, Logan Ulrich (both Kand Rowing Club), Jack Barrett, Joseph Wilson, Connor Ryan (all North Esk Rowing Club) and coxswain Andrew Le (Sydney University Boat Club). The Men’s Eight won both their heat and final, while the Under 21 Women’s Eight won their heat, but just missed out on the win in the final.

Men's eight at Lake Karapiro

Head Coach Brett Crow said, “It was a great effort on the last day of racing.  Thanks to the coaches and support staff for all the work in making the tour a great experience for all involved. Also thank you to all the parents supporting the team and to everyone at Rowing New Zealand for making us feel so welcome.”

During their visit to New Zealand, Rowing Australia and Rowing Canada teams were able to spend time with current and former New Zealand elite athletes including Eric Murray, Sophie Mackenzie and Kelsi Parker.

All teams