WAIS Rowers Win Medals at Australian Rowing Champs
The 2010 Australian Rowing Championships have concluded at Lake Nagambie, Victoria with WAIS’s young squad producing some impressive results.
Beijing Olympian Todd Skipworth enjoyed a successful regatta, dominating the men’s light weight single. Skipworth led from start to finish and again provided evidence of his standing as one of Australia’s premier lightweight rowers.
Skipworth added a second gold medal to his collection, as a member of the victorious men’s quad and claimed silver along with WAIS training partners Ross Brown and Perry Ward in the men’s lightweight four.
The lightweight single victory was described by WAIS Rowing Performance Manager Antonio Maurogiovanni as “without compromise” given Skipworth was favourite heading into nationals, but his clinical display proved the tag was a good fit.
Brown and Ward also combined to take bronze in the men’s lightweight pair, behind two Tasmanian pairs.
Two returning Olympians in Nat Bale and Amber Bradley had mixed results in their first serious competition since injury and work commitments respectively had seen the pair inactive since Beijing.
Bradley grafted hard to finish seventh in the women’s single, but picked up medals in the double (bronze), quad (silver) and eight (bronze).
Bale snared medals in the women’s four (silver) and in the eight (bronze).
WAIS scholarship holder David Kelly won gold in the men’s quad scull and also featured in finals of the single and double.
The under age members of the WAIS rowing squad returned a deluge of medals from Lake Nagambie in encouraging signs for the future.
David Watts and Matt Cochran combined to win gold in the under 19 men’s double and as part of the men’s four, whilst also claiming silver in the men’s pair.
WAIS young gun Hannah Vermeersch claimed two gold medals in the under 19 women’s pair and four as well as silver in the eight.
In the under 23 events, Tom Gatti, Alex Hagan, Hannah Jansen, Ashleigh Miles and Brendan Murray all returned medals.
Jansen excelled winning gold in the lightweight single, double and quad. AIS-WAIS rower Hagan claimed gold in the double, quad four and eight in another quality performance from the Bunbury born athlete.
Ashleigh Miles picked up medals in the women’s pair (silver), double (silver) and four (bronze).
Tom Gatti and Brendan Murray won bronze in the final of the under 23 men’s pair and also finished fourth in the four.
In the Interstate regatta Western Australia relinquished its three year reign in the lightweight men’s Penrith Cup, with old foe Tasmania proving too strong on Lake Nagambie.
WAIS athletes Todd Skipworth, Perry Ward and Ross Brown couldn’t match the speed of Tasmania’s boat and will have to wait for 2011 to wrestle back the prestigious cup.
Nat Bale, Amber Bradley, Ashleigh Miles and Alex Hagan fought for third in the women’s eight Queen Cup, with Victoria winning the race. David Kelly, Tom Gatti, David Watts, Perry Ward and Todd Skipworth all competed in the men’s eight Kings Cup for fourth place, with NSW victorious.
Amber Bradley finished sixth in the single scull, Alex Hagan, Ashleigh Miles, Hannah Jansen and Hannah Vermeersch claimed silver as part of the youth women’s eight, whilst David Watts, Brendan Murray and Matt Cochran took silver in the youth men’s eight.