Victoria Dominate Interstate Rowing Regatta

Victoria enjoyed a successful day at the 2015 Interstate Regatta last Sunday, after winning the King’s Cup, the Queen’s Cup and the Rowing Australia Cup at the Sydney International Regatta Centre, Penrith.

Victoria won four of the eight Interstate races today, Kim Crow won the Nell Slatter Trophy for the Interstate Women’s Single Scull, the Women’s Youth Eight claimed the Bicentennial Cup, the Women’s Eight won the Queen’s Cup (in which Crow also featured) and the pinnacle trophy, the King’s Cup for the Interstate Men’s Eight.

The King’s Cup winning crew, coxed by David Webster, were facing stiff competition at the start from seven-time winning crew of New South Wales, as well as South Australia who took the lead in the first 500m of the race, however today was all about the Big White V.

Webster coxed his crew featuring Olympic medallists David Crawshay, Will Lockwood, Karsten Fosterling and Josh Dunkley-Smith, to an impressive race time of 5:32:12, and a victory in the King’s Cup for the first time since 2007.

“It feels great to have won today, it was actually a fairly similar race to the one I won in 2006, which was the last time I won the King’s Cup.

“We got out early and were solid through the race, we went from strength to strength and while the other crews came back at the end, we had the advantage and it was just a different race to any of the last seven where we lost to New South Wales,” said 2008 Beijing Olympic Gold Medallist and Victorian David Crawshay.

London 2012 silver medallist, Lockwood, added: “I think the difference this year is that there was an actual belief that we could do it this year, rather than just ‘thinking’ we could do it.

“This year there was an aura and belief in the crew that we could win the King’s Cup. I can’t tell you how good it feels to win this, prior to today I’d never won a King’s Cup, and it’s up there as one of the best rowing moments of my career, up there with the silver medal from the London Olympic Games.”

The Western Australian crew finished fourth.

In the Queen’s Cup, it was an 11th in a row for Victoria as the boat, stroked by Charlotte Sutherland, crossed the line in a time of 6:09:34. The crew featured a number of Australian national team members including, Sutherland and her twin sister Sophie, as well as Crow, Lucy Stephan, Jennifer Cleary, Katrina Bateman and Sarah Banting.

The Western Australia crew finished sixth.

In the other Interstate races, Queensland’s men made it three in a row in the Interstate Lightweight Men’s Four for the Penrith Cup with Darryn Purcell, Nick Silcox, Tim McDonnell and Jack Price. Western Australia finished second, with WAIS athlete Perry Ward competing in the crew.

In the Interstate Women’s Lightweight Quad Scull race, there were thrills and spills as New South Wales veered off course during their race and into Tasmania’s lane before correcting themselves and powering back to take silver after the disruption.

New South Wales’ mishap did nothing to distract the Tasmanian crew who claimed the Victoria Cup for the second year in a row, this year stroked by the Australian Rowing Team’s Ella Flecker. The Western Australian crew featuring WAIS athlete Maia Simmonds finished fourth.

In the Interstate Youth Men’s Eight, it was New South Wales who stormed to victory to win the Noel F. Wilkinson Trophy, while New South Welshman Alexander Belonogoff once again claimed the President’s Cup, with WAIS athlete Rhys Grant fourth.

Belonogoff received the trophy this year from not only the President of Rowing Australia, Rob Scott, but also from the widow of the late Reg Free, who won the cup twice.

With four gold medals, plus three more podium finishes and leading the points table, Victoria were crowned the most successful of the Interstate Regatta and thus were awarded the Rowing Australia Cup.

-RowingAus