The NSW Masters Championships at the Sydney International Regatta season saw Janine Lippi return with medals of every colour, while Barclay Wade’s Men’s crew debuted in black in gold to take out the Men’s A & B Eight.
First to add to the pointscore tally was the Men’s G Double Scull crew of Allen Turner and Cliff Fountain who claimed bronze in their event. All 3 crews were overlapping at the halfway mark with Hunter’s Gary Freeman and Bruce Sharp getting away the best. The composite crew of John McLeod and Digby Rayward made a decisive move late to edge out the Hunter crew in claiming the win with the Balmain crew 4 seconds behind the winning crew.
Janine Lippi raced the double with Sandy Rourke, reforming a crew that has had plenty of success in past years as they raced in the Women’s D Double Scull. Black Mountain managed to lead this race in a cross headwind from start to finish, with Lippi’s crew taking silver ahead of Lower Clarence/Murwillumbah.
Lippi combined with Manning River’s Mandy Cavill in the Women’s C Double Scull and earned the bronze medal behind winners Canberra as well as Lower Clarence. The Canberra crew, containing Barcelona Olympian, Emy Ayliffe (nee Snook) and Elaine Bissaker did the damage early, opening up a three second advantage after 500 metres on the way to taking out the event.
In the Men’s A Single Scull, Owen Nix, got off to a good start before being mowed down by the field after 300 metres and had to settle for fourth, behind the winner, Gavin Parcsi of the University of NSW to conclude the club’s participation on the first day of racing.
Lippi started off day 2 with another silver medal, this time in the Women’s D Quad Scull. Racing with Cavill, Rourke and Bissaker the composite crew led for the bulk of the race only for Black Mountain to take the lead in the final few strokes to claim the win by just 0.21 seconds.
Balmain was assured of a share of the spoils in the Men’s A-C coxless four. The Men’s Eight crew, coached by 1964 Olympian Barclay Wade, were split into two boats, while Nix combined with Endeavour and Hunter in a last minute entry into the event. The sole other boat in the race was Glebe and as the oldest crew, Glebe started off first and were unable to be rowed down. The leading Balmain crew of Matthew Davis, Joel Cape, James Armati and Saxon Lyne went out in hot pursuit and narrowed the gap to two-thirds of a boat length at the finish. Balmain also claimed the bronze medal with the crew of Simon Jenkins, Marcus Hanel, Nick Smith and Evan Sturrock as they put some steering difficulties to the side to grab a spot on the podium by just 0.17 of a second.
In the Men’s A&B Eight another exciting finish ensued as Balmain, coxed by Charles Done, took on a composite crew comprised of some 5 clubs in a match race. The Balmain crew were giving away 2 seconds on the start under the aged based handicap system and managed to turn this into a one-second advantage at halfway. Both crews attacked and counter-attacked over the last 250 metres, with the Balmain crew holding on to win by just 0.16 of a second in a brutal race, rowed in a quick time of 3 minutes and 5 seconds.
Lippi capped off the regatta with a fine come from behind win in the final race, the Mixed E Quad Scull. The crew of Lippi, Cavill, Roy Halliday and Dick Reddel (both Manning River) were in a three-way tussle after 500 metres, with Leichhardt and Black Mountain, but powered home to win with clear water.
