Year 12 students Adelaide Robb (Victory Lutheran College), Eva Broad (Xavier High School), Maddison Pasqualotto (Marian College Myrtleford), Year 11 students Anastasia McFarlane (The Scots School), Phoebe Packer (The Scots School) and Imogen Tomlinson (St Francis De Sales ) all competed in the open single scull over the 1500m course.
The club’s Junior School girl, year 10 Imogen Wragge (St Paul’s College) and year 9 Sienna McFarlane (The Scots School), competed over the 1,000m course.
Day one of the competition started with Eva in the first heat, with all heats needing the win to progress straight through to the quarter-finals, while the remaining scullers get a second chance going through the Repechage. With 3 scullers lining up Eva was in a battle for the second place as the sculls pushed hard with 500m to go. Holding great form to the line, Eva made her move to push clear into second place, gaining confidence for Saturday’s Repechage.
The next heat featured Anastasia, who had a cautious start, settling into 2nd place. With a great following of her teammates, Anastasia was gaining on the early leader with each stroke. Anastasia made her move with 500m pulling alongside the early leader before pushing clear to take a comfortable win.
The random draw saw Adelaide, Imogen and Phoebe lining up against each other in the 5th heat. The more experienced sculler took the early lead as Phoebe and Imogen battled for 2nd and 3rd places. Phoebe and Imogen worked hard against each gaining valuable race experience as Adelaide claimed the win with Phoebe holding onto 2nd place and Imogen in third place.
The final heat saw Maddison lining up against the local Geelong sculler. Maddison struggled early with her steering before settling into a strong racing plan to finish in 2nd place and join Phoebe, Eva, and Imogen in Saturday’s Repechages.
Our Juniors lined up with Imogen first up in the year 10 single scull needing to win to progress straight through and avoid the Repechage on Saturday morning.
With her second time racing over the Geelong course Imogen was sitting clear in 2nd place. The Footscray Sculler kept her nose in front as Imogen pushed hard through to the line in 2nd place.
The final race on day 1 was Sienna McFarlane, who was coming off a successful Victorian State Championships in Ballarat. Sienna was quick out, moved to a comfortable lead, and recorded a great win, earning a rest on Saturday morning.
Day 2 Repechages.
The Open single sculls repechage started the days racing for the Club, needing a win to progress to the afternoon quarter-finals. Eva lined up in the 2nd Repechage with the 3 scullers getting out evenly. The Shelford Grammar sculler made her move as she did against Anastasia in the heat, moving two lengths clear of Eva with 500m to go. Eva made her move, increasing her boat speed to make inroads on the early leader and in the final sprint to the line Eva surged forward to take the win by 1 second.
The 3rd Repechage featured Imogen Tomlinson; the race plan was simple: get out fast and hold on for as long as possible. Imogen followed the script perfectly, with a much-improved row taking the early lead. With little separating the 4 scullers at the halfway mark, the race pace picked up. Imogen produced a fantastic final effort to sit midfield, finishing in 3rd place and a place in the 3rd and 4th semis Sunday morning.
The 4th Repechage featured Phoebe and Maddison as 3 scullers lined up at the start. Phoebe and Maddison were in the hunt as they moved clear sitting first and second with 500m covered. Phoebe made her move as she pushed her bow in front, and in a strong display, Pheobe powered to the line with Maddison having her best row to finish in 2nd place.
The racing returned to the 1000m course, with Imogen Wragge lining up in the 3 scull repechage, needing a top two finish to progress to the semi-finals. There was a great battle down the course with little separating the scullers at the 500m mark. The local sculler made her move to take the lead as Imogen was in a battle with the Toorak College sculler for the all-important 2nd place.
With less than a length separating the scullers, Imogen fell just short by 1.5 seconds; consolation was her time would have won the 1st Repechage; that’s rowing as Imogen prepares for the C Final on Sunday.
The Open single scull quarter-finals featured 12 scullers going for 8 places and needing a top two finish to progress to the 1 and 2 Semifinals, with Corowa Rowers having 4 scullers in the mix.
First up was the inform Adelaide Robb up against a quality field of scullers. Adelaide had a fantastic start as she took the early lead; at the 750m mark, Adelaide still had her boat in front of the Hailybury sculler.
With the finish line fast approaching both leading scullers settled as they made it through to the semi 1 and 2. Eva was next up, improving with each race she was keen to be in the mix against the best scullers.
After an even start, Eva settled well to be in the mix at the 750m mark; the 3 scullers were in a real tussle for the top 2 places as Eva made a last-ditch effort but fell just short in third place.
The final Open scull race featured Anastasia and Phoebe with the two Scots school students working hard to progress through to the 1 and 2 Semis. Anastasia showed her experience to take the early lead while Phoebe was in a tough battle for the 2nd place. As Anastasia extended her lead, Phoebe worked hard but fell short, finishing in 3rd place.
A great effort by the Clubs Open School girls, with 2 making Semis 1 and 2 and two girls making the C final. The last race for the day was Sienna in the year 9 single quarter-final.
Sienna has been in scintillating form and was ready for a tough battle against the girl who came third at the Junior State Championships. Sienna flew out and took control of the race from the start, to lead all the way and give her a real confidence boost for Sundays Semi Finals.
Day 3
Perfect conditions greeted the rowers for the final day of competition.
First up was Sienna In the first Semi-Final for the year 9 single scull. Continuing her fantastic form Sienna showed her class to take the lead and record a commanding win and progress through to the A final.
The Open single scull Semi Final 2 featured Adelaide Rob and Anastasia McFarlane with a top 2 finish to progress through to the A final. Both Corowa scullers had a clean start with Adelaide holding a slight lead after 500m as the local Geelong sculler made her move. Adelaide was in a real battle with the Geelong sculler as the field split into 2.
Both scullers settled over the last 500m, with the local sculler taking the win while Adelaide held onto the all-important 2nd place. Anastasia fought hard finishing in 4th place and moving through to the B final. Imogen Wragge started the club's finals campaign in the year 10 C final.
Determined to show her improvement after a tough Repechage, Imogen took the lead and rowed cleanly in her lane. Imogen had her best row to take the win and finish 9th overall and gained invaluable racing experience on the Barwon River for the future.
The Open Single scull finals began with Imogen Tomlinson in the E final.
The year 11 student was ready to keep improving with each row as she lined up in the 4-sculler final. Imogen showed her liking for the Barwon course as she threw caution to the wind to take the early lead.
Racing with greater confidence, Imogen was well placed as the 4 scullers made their sprint to the line, and in a close finish, Imogen finished in third place, finishing 19th overall in her first-year racing over the 1500m course.
Next up was Maddison in the D final in her last year as a schoolgirl rower. Maddison improved with every race over the course as she made a real race for her 3 competitors. Rowing a well-controlled race and keeping pace with the field, Maddison finished in 4th place and 16th overall.
The C final featured Eva and Phoebe with both scullers determined to continue their steady improvement throughout the regatta. With Eva in year 12, she was ready to finish off her schoolgirl racing in style. With Eva sitting in third place, she made a fantastic sprint to the line to reel in the early leaders to claim a great win and finish 9th overall. Year 11 student Phoebe Packer was competing in Geelong for the first time and was excited to make the C final. Working hard and gaining invaluable racing experience Phoebe rowed a fantastic race to finish in 4th place and 12th overall.
The experienced year 11 student Anastasia was racing in the B final and continued her great rowing at Geelong to give her best effort to finish in 3rd place and 7th overall.
The beginning of the A finals featured Sienna in the year 9 single scull lining up against 3 other finalists. Sienna kept pace with the early leader as they both moved clear of the rest of the field. With Sienna well placed at the 500m mark Sienna had a great row to claim a much-deserved Silver medal.
The final race for the club was Adelaide in the Open single scull, qualifying in 4th place, a tough battle was expected to claim a medal. Adelaide was well-drilled in the race plan, making her bigger competitors work hard early and using her technique and fitness to hold them off. With Adelaide in lane 1, the Semifinal winners were placed in the middle of the course, allowing Adelaide to execute her race plan. Adelaide had a fantastic start to keeping pace with the rest of the field as she made her move. Adelaide and the lane 4 sculler moved clear as the race favourites found the pace a bit hot. By the halfway mark the outside scullers were still sitting in the lead as the pace picked for the final sprint. Adelaide gave her best effort as she held off the middle lanes to finish in a close second place to win a well-deserved silver medal. The club's schoolgirl rowers had a fantastic regatta, representing their schools with pride against the best rowing schools in the State. This regatta is the last School girl regatta for year 12 students Adelaide, Eva and Maddison.
The club is ready to welcome our next generation of girls who are keen to represent their school next season beginning from year 8 racing.
We would like to thank all the parents who attended the regatta with their daughters, as well as Coaches Emily Tidd, Bella Heagney and Sommers Hogan, who made the trip to Geelong to support the girls.
To celebrate another successful season, the club’s presentation day will be held at the Rowing Shed Sunday, 12.00, April 7. Bookings require names on the whiteboard.
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