New blood to help Avon eight

Press, 17 December 1976, Page 28

New blood to help Avon eight

By TIM DUNBAR Avon’s chances of successfully defending its eightoared title at the national rowing championships on March 5 are looking brighter.

The Christchurch club has been heartened by the news that Ken Divers and Tony Brook, the two top oarsmen in Otago, will join the Avon fold at the end of this week.

Divers was a national Colts representative two seasons ago and made the short list or 24 for the Montreal Olympics while Brook rowed for the New Zealand Colts eight which nearly went through an Australian tour undefeated last season. Last March Avon became the first South Island eight to win the champion title but the chances of a repetition

looked dim when four of the crew—including, the Munich Olympic gold medallists, Athol Earl and Trevor Coker —subsequently dropped out. Avon’s top eight in recent weeks has included a number of relatively inexperienced rowers but two powerful oarsmen, George Keys (14|st) and Greg Smithson (131-st plus), are now back in Christchurch after the colts [“tests” between New Zealland and New South Wales. Another very strong crew jean now be boated with eight rowers available who have represented New Zealand at the senior or colts level, including the Montreal Olympic representatives, Ivan Sutherland and David Lindstrom. Fred Strachan, the sole

survivor of the “big three” (Strachan, Don Rowlands and Rusty Robertson) on the national selection panel, will again coach the eight. He will be helped by Pat McQuinn, who has just spent 10 weeks guiding the successful colts crews and coached the Avon junior four last season. , “I’ve been away from the club for a while because of a minor internal dispute over selection but I’m back now and Pat and I will tie up the coaching together.” Mr Strachan said yesterday. “I haven’t retired from coaching and should be around Christchurch for at least another three years.” Mr Strachan said that the selection of the eight would i hinge a lot on the perform-

ance of the 11 or 12 oarsmen at a training camp in Blenheim during the first week of January. “The crew should be resolved by the time the camp ends on January 8.” A notable absentee from the camp be the 1974 international; Jeff Lopas, who will be getting in some sculling at Akaroa. Lopas gave up a chance for his first red coat to scull last year but is available for the eight this season.

Mr McQuinn said that the strength of the North Island crews was such this year that Avon would have as much chance as anyone. ‘With the sidewinds prevalent at Lake Horowhenua (near Levin) it’s going to .be a real lottery anyway with

conditions different from lane to lane.”

The Waikato senior eight could be the biggest threat to Avon this season and it beat the colts eight by two lengths and a half in the regatta at Lake Karapiro last week-end.

But Mr McQuinn was quick to point out that his charges had rowed themselves out just an hour before when they had a great victory over New South Wales bj’ three-quarters of a length.

Present plans are for the Avon eight to get muchneeded racing at the Auckland championships on the week-end of February 19-20, a week before the nationals begin at Lake Horowhenua.