Emma Downey, who was a member of the Hawke's Bay Rowing Club's intermediate women's four which won silver at the March outdoor nationals in Twizel, was the outstanding female performer on Saturday. Competing in the under-17 age group she stopped the clock at 1m40s for 500m and 3m34s for 1000m.
Kate Stewart, a member of the Hawke's Bay Rowing Club's bronze medal-winning women's novice eight in Twizel, completed the under-19 girls double winning the 500m title in 1m51s and the 1000m title in 4m03s.
Arthur Donaldson completed the novice double winning the 500m title in 1m30s and 1000m title in 3m17s. Michael Polhenz won both masters titles stopping the clock at 1m44s over 500m and 3m50s over 1000m.
Alex Wilson was impressive in winning the open men's 500m title with a time of 1m25s. Wilson was a member of the Hawke's Bay Rowing Club's senior men's eight which won gold at the 2014 nationals.
Rowing great and double Olympic gold medallist Eric Murray attended the champs and passed on valuable tips to the competitors. He holds the second best indoor rowing time in New Zealand of 5m41s for 2000m.
"Eric was great and very engaging with the rowers. It made for a real buzz. In a first for Hawke's Bay Rowing, Eric and Concept 2 indoor rowing boss Gary Reid, brought a software package that simulated the racing by projecting 'boats' onto a screen. So although it was indoors, rowers could see exactly where they were placed during the race. Rowing commentator and coach David Mackintosh called the races adding extra spice to the event," Mackintosh said.
He pointed out there are plans to expand regional championships into a national competition with regional results being simultaneously fed into a national database. This will allow rowers to see how they have performed alongside their peers throughout the country.