Rowing: Coxless fours fight takes centre stage

The women's single sculls and both coxless fours shape up as feature events in what is expected to be a fascinating two days of finals at the New Zealand rowing championships in Twizel.

Semifinals were completed yesterday, and the two big contests were the men's senior pair and the junior men's championship single sculls.

The Canterbury club's No 1 and No 2 crews established themselves as contenders for the senior pair title, which will be decided today. Avon and Union Wanganui crews will also compete.

Canterbury No 1 Matthew Trott and Chris Brown won the first semifinal in 7m 00.89s from Union Wanganui's Nathan Terrey and Calvin Ferguson in 7m 03.31s.

Avon's Michael Stuart and David Earl won the second semifinal in 6m 59.85s, ahead of Canterbury No 2 Todd and Michael Petherick in 7m 00.23s.

Aramoho-Wanganui announced their intention to make a clean sweep of the junior men's single sculls by qualifying the three fastest boats for today's final.

Aaron Brider and Kaden Clark were one and two in the first semifinal and Craig Burton won the second semifinal in 7m 41.21s.

The next fastest qualifiers, Cambridge's Fergus Hodgson and Otago's Peter Benny, were six seconds back.

Cambridge's Sonia Waddell and Nikki Coles, who will race each other in tomorrow's women's single sculls final, combine in the championship women's double sculls event which they won last year.

Hamilton's twins, Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell, are out to regain the title they won in 1998 and 1999.

Also in the field is Union Wanganui's Kirsty Wilson and twice double sculls world champion Phillipa Baker-Hogan.

Baker-Hogan has returned to rowing after last competing in 1996, when she won the double sculls title with Brenda Lawson.

The men's and women's championship coxless fours promise to be exciting races.

Waikato are determined to retain their men's title, but are likely to face a strong challenge from Avon and Wairau.

Cambridge's No 1 crew of Waddell, Coles, Maree Kaati and Rochelle Saunders will be hard to stop in the women's race.

Crews from Avon, Canterbury and Union Wanganui are charged with the task of stopping Cambridge's second crew from making it a club one-two.

Auckland, led by Steve Westlake, and Waikato, led by Bryce Mael, are favoured in the men's quad sculls.

But Taranaki's Clifton, Waihopai, of Invercargill, and Christchurch's Avon, with Olympian David Schaper and Ian Smallman in the middle of the boat, will push them hard.

- NZPA