Whanganui rowers shine at back-to-back regattas on Lake Karapiro

Union oarsmen Kurt Browning (left) and Donny Thompson, with coach Grant Ryder and their first ever medals from Lake Karapiro.

Whanganui rowers once again revealed their talent at both the Cambridge Town Cup and North Island Club Championship regattas run back-to-back at Lake Karapiro last weekend.

Rowers from the Aramoho Wanganui Rowing Club (AWRC), Wanganui Collegiate Rowing Club (WCRC) and Union Boating Club returned home with gold, silver and bronze from performances in A finals. WCRC, however, only competed in the Cambridge Town Cup regatta.

Union rowers Donny Thompson and Kurt Browning won their first ever medals at Karapiro when claiming bronze in the men's club coxless quad sculls, albeit in a composite line-up alongside AWRC oarsmen Jonty Thomson and Levi Carroll.

AWRC was by far the strongest of the Whanganui clubs at the North Island championships bringing home eight medals from A finals.

The AWRC's women's crew won the intermediate coxed eight final with Zeah Brewer, Mikayla Manville, Chantelle de Koning, Jaimee Bridger, Feyth Hogan, Rochelle Lowe, Niamh Murphy, Ella Dudley and Lucy Dowman (cox) in the boat.

Luke watts won the senior men's single scull, while clubmate Nathan Luff was second.
They then combined to take out the men's double sculls. Both also teamed up with Carroll and Guy Thomson to finish second in the senior men's coxless quad.

Ally Bennett crewed with Niamh Monk to win the women's club double sculls, then teamed with Millie Thomson and Elizabeth Norman to run second in the women's club coxless quad sculls.

Jonty Thomson and Levi Carroll joined forces to finish second in the men's club double sculls.

The Cambridge Town Cup regatta was perhaps the tougher of the two competitions with schools rather than clubs competing against each other in a cutthroat no repercharge environment.

The AWRC grils won the under-16 coxed quad sculls with Brewer, Manville, Murphy, Dudley and coxswain Niamh Mullany in the boat.

The WCRC girls, Charlotte McKinlay, Catherine Pearce, Maddie McLean, Lydia MacLean, Maggie O'Leary-Noyer, Charlotte Robb, Chloe Lennox and cox Jack Monckton, claimed the under-17 coxed eight.

Blake Hogan and Leo Hanna proved too strong in the under-16 boys double sculls fro WCRC, while Jaimee Harris was outstanding running second in the tough under-18 girls single sculls.

Maddie McLean, catherine Pearce, Chloe Lennox, Lydia MacLean with Georgina Duncan as coxswain ran third in te girls under-17 coxed four, while Leo hanna, Blake Hogan, Jack Norman, Darien Parsons and Hugo Dalgleish combined to finish third in the under-16 boys quad.