Canty novice coxed four impressive

Press, 9 March 1987, Page 21

Canty novice coxed four impressive

Four very good novice oarsmen gave the Canterbury Rowing Club, the oldest in New Zealand, something extra to celebrate on the last day of the national championships regatta at Lake Ruataniwha on Saturday. The club, which celebrated its 125th anniversary just a month ago, had not tested success at this regatta until its No. 1 novice coxed four powered to an impressive win in event No. 38.

The four of Craig Ling (stroke), Glen Purdon,' Murray Beagley and Peter Umbers, with Craig Ellenbroek doing the coxing, was one of the more impressive winners at the regatta. In an all-South Island finish Canterbury was

more than two lengths clear of Wairau with the two Avon crews filling the next two placings. Steve Borlase, the coach, was delighted with the performance of the crew, especially in light of its only getting together relatively late in the season — a week or two before Christmas. Most novices need more time to form a smooth combination.

It was a big crew with the notable exception of the stroke, Ling, a coxswain only two seasons ago. Ling certainly did his job in getting good boat movement by setting a lively beat.

That apart, the best performance by the Canterbury club on the day was its silver-medal

result in the championship lightweight eights. A good Canterbury crew, stroked by Chris Duncan, could make no impressive on the top-class Waikato eight, which later had the whole of its stern four included in the New Zealand lightweight eight.

The Avon club added to its fine novice eights win on Friday with a title in the intermediate coxed fours on Saturday. Significantly, the crew of Darren Wood (stroke), Paul Kuipers, Simon Ewen and Sean Eden with Justin Rhodes as coxswain were all novices last season. Wood, Kuipers, and Eden had all been in the winning novice four and all four were in the gold-medal novice eight in 1986.

The crew members said they would have preferred a slight head wind — instead of the slight tail wind that prevailed — but they had been able to “keep it together.” Their big move came half-way through the race.

It was another coaching success for the former Avon red coat oarsman, Steve Donaldson, after winning results with the novices previously.

Both Wood and Kuipers were back on the presentation dais later in the afternoon after a creditable second placing behind Whakatane in the men’s intermediate coxed pairs.

Another Christchurch river club, Union, had high hones for success

through its premier lightweight sculler, Dale Maher, the men’s intermediate eight, and the two junior . single scullers. On Friday, Maher had to be content with a silver medal and the intermediate eight with a bronze. The Intermediates probably actually rowed better with its fourth placing in the senior eights.

On Saturday, the junior scullers, Mark Sigley and Hamish Johnson, were fourth and fifth respectively in their eight-boat final. In the same class, the Avon junior four of John Gapes, Patrick Millar, Andrew Bates, and Hamish Mason were a worthy second behind Tauranga. Results, page 26