Australia suffers the bends as Kerrs Reach rowed

Press, 5 September 1983, Page 32

Australia suffers the bends as Kerrs Reach rowed

By

TIM DUNBAR

Kerrs Reach acquired the temporary status of an international rowing venue at a few hours’ notice when the four-test Tasman series between Australia and New Zealand ended in Christchurch yesterday.

Officials had to shift the regatta from the scheduled venue, Lake Forsyth, because of a stiff southerly which made the water unrowable.

About 50km away, at the more sheltered Kerrs Reach, the regatta proceeded relatively smoothly, even though it started 2Vz hours late, and all events were rowed. Australia had dominated in all three clases — Colts, lightweights, and women — in the three previous tests and was already confirmed as the winner of the Queen Elizabeth II Cup. It finished with a convincing 112-79 margin. The New Zealand team left its best effort till last, winning six of the 13 events and trailing Australia only 23 points to 25. The six wins were twice that achieved in each of the earlier regattas, at Lake Karapiro, Wanganui, and the Oreti River. The improved effort was helped by the shift to Kerrs Reach where local knowledge — at least as far as the lightweight coxless four were concerned — was important. All the Australian crews had trained at Lake Forsyth on Friday and the move to

the Reach, where the course has bends, made the adjustment difficult for coxswainless boats.

The Australian lightweight coxless four, having its first row on the course, had disastrous steering problems. After being warned by the umpire for encroaching on New Zealand’s water the crew overcorrected rounding the bend and ploughed into the bank with 600 m to go, and stopped completely. The New Zealand crew, which spent most of the winter training on the Reach, then only had to row out the distance to gain its first series win in a double points race. Australia was impressive in winning both the other double-points races — the colts eight and the women’s coxed four.

The big, powerful Australian colts eight dominated early with crisp, clean strokes and went on to beat New Zealand by a good two lengths to complete a clean sweep for the series. The Australians showed the benfit of a 13-week long training camp in Canberra, which included tests conducted by the Australian Institute of Sport.

Australia was a deserved winner of the Union Shipping Salver for competition between New Zealand and Australian Colts eight-oar crews.

As in the previous tests, the Australian women’s four was pushed for most of the distance by New Zealand, but had too much “horsepower” over the last 200 m or so. Even so, the margin was less than a length. A feature of the New Zealand crew was that the coxswain, Miranda Dickensen, lay down in the bow to call the race.

New Zealand began the regatta with three successes on end. The women’s single sculler, Linda de Jong, had her first win over Australia’s representative, Anne Piper, and this was followed by similar results from the lightweight four, and then the colts single sculler, Stuart Henderson, who won his race in the straight. After a succession of reverses, some by disturbing margins, New Zealand emerged again at the end of the programme, taking three of the last four races. The New Zealand lightweight double of Dale Maher and Stephen Ryan and the women’s double of

Linda de Jong and Jane Stanley both sculled tidily to make it four out of four over the series. Then, in the final race, the colts coxed four rowed extremely well for a surprise win, increasing its lead to three lengths over the last 100 m.

For Jane Stanlely, who also stroked the New Zealand women’s coxed four, it must have been a little more difficult than usual to concentrate on the job. Her husband, Mike, was stroke of the New Zealand elite eight which raced in the world championship final at Duisburg this morning. Results:

Women’s single sculls.— New Zealand (Linda de Jong), 4:10.6, 1; Australia, 4:12.2, 2.

Lightweight four.— New Zealand (R. Bruce, K. Meates, C. Duncan, D. Maher), 1; Australia, 2. No time. Colts single sculls. — New Zealand (Stuart Henderson), 6:40, 1; Australia No. 2, 6:50, 2; Australia No. 1, 7:07, 3.

Colts eight.— Australia (D. Fisher, R. Booth, J. Mayne, G. Deag, S. Fisher, M. Doyle, S. Evans, C. Muller, G. Barns coxswain), 5:28.2, 1; New Zealand, 5:34.6, 2; Avon, 3.

Women’s four.— Australia (S. Chapman, K. Brancourt, R. Grey-Gardner, E. Randall),

3:36.5, 1; New Zealand, 3:38.6,

Lightweight single sculls.— Australia No. 1 (Sam Goulding), 7:15, 1; New Zealand, 7:19.2, 2; Australia No. 2, 7:40.6, 3. Lightweight coxless pair.— Australia No. 1 (J. Joyce, D. Mollison), 7:23.8, 1; Australia No. 2, 7:26, 2; New Zealand, 7:40.5, 3.

Colts double sculls.— Australia (T. lovrich, P. Reedy), 6:40.2, 1; New Zealand, 7:12, 2; Avon, 7:17.7, 3. Women’s coxless pair.— Australia No. 1 (K. Brancourt, R. Grey-Gardner), 4:11.4, 1; Australia No. 2, 4:20, 2; New Zealand, 4:25.8, 3. Lightweight double sculls.— New Zealand No. 1 (D. Maher, S. Ryan), 7:03.0, 1; Australia, 7:12.8, 2; New Zealand No. 22, 7:31.2, 3.

Colts coxless pair.— Australia No. 1 (M. Doyle, D. Fisher) 7:07.2, 1; New Zealand, 7:27.8, 2; Australia No. 2, 7:38.2, 3.

Women’s double sculls.— New Zealand No. 1 (L. de Jong, J. Stanley), 3:57, 1; New Zealand No. 2, 4:02.6, 2; Australia, 4:11.4, 3. Colts coxed four.— New Zealand No. 1 (G. Botica, M. Troughton, I. Wright, S. Aplin), 6:26, 1; Australia, 6:35.8, 2; New Zealand No. 2, 6:50.2, 3.