Canty rowers strike snags

Press, 24 February 1986, Page 44

Canty rowers strike snags

Christchurch crews, who are based at Lake Karapiro preparing for the New Zealand rowing championships starting on March 2, hope they used up all their bad luck in the Auckland provincial title meeting, which ended yesterday. The single sculler, John Cook (Avon) mistook the finishing line in his only event at the three-day meeting and missed qualifying. _ The Avon coxless pair, Les O’Connell and Neil Gibson, had a collision on the way to the start, did not contest the heat, but was allowed into the semifinals by a race committee. The pair qualified for

the final, but in a borrowed North Shore boat it finished a distant fifth, 30s behind Keith Trask and Eric Verdonk (North Shore). The Avon pair hopes its boat will be repaired early this week.

Avon’s premier men finished third in both the championship coxed fours (6:24.8) and coxless fours (6:11.0). Waikato won the coxed event, and Tauranga the coxless. The Avon coach, David Lindstorm, observed: “That Waikato four (Bruce Holden, Greg Johnston, Chris White, Nigel Atherfold) is very strong, but with a week’s training here I hope we

can get a bit more out of our boat.” He said of the coxless four and its new unconventionally rigged boat: “It was only an average row. They have not mastered the boat yet, having hardly trained in it."

Both Don Symon and O’Connell felt confident that the boat would perform to expectations when they are more familiar with it.

Avon was a gallant second in the championship eights, less than a length behind , Waikato, which clocked 6:03.7 in the slight headwind against Avon’s 6:06.3. Tljp day began on an

unusual note but promisingly for Canterbury. Philippa Baker was rewarded for reducing her weight by over 7kg in the past month to gain entry to the women’s champion lightweight single sculls, which she won handsomely in 8:07.1.

She was then second with Linda Ross in the championship coxless pairs. They spoiled their chance with a bad start, and although steadily making up the leeway were beaten by Hamilton. After this excellent beginning, Canterbury was doomed to a sequence of minor placings, highlighted by brave efforts for second behind

Waikato in the men’s senior coxed fours and lightweight coxless pairs and third in the women’s championship eights.

South Island crews gained some compensation as the New Zealand eights representatives, George Keys and Warren McLaughlin (Nelson) held out Whakatane in the championship double sculls. Nelson had three finalists in the championship singles. But third place to Keys, the current national champion, behind a revitalised Gary Reid (Whakatane) and Mark Simmons (Auckland) was the best they could manage.