At the NSW State Championships, held at SIRC (Fri 10 - Sun12 Feb), the conditions were atrocious with temperatures on Friday hitting the high 40's. It was the hottest regatta anyone could recall. Applause to Greg Smith, Referee, and to the officials, volunteers, medics and rescue boats for ensuring all athletes were safe and able to compete.
"We are continually thankful that we have such amazing support for para rowing from Rowing NSW and they recognise the needs of all and are vigilant about ensuring this is a truly inclusive regatta. We thank them for the Rec 500 and hope to see many more competitors next year'. said Barbara Ramjam.
Our Para doubles wouldn't have been possible without support from Sydney University via Central Tablelands and Liam's junior men's squad. A big thank you to: - Eoghan Kilbridge, a junior rower from Liam's squad. Your doubles race with Kevin Wall was magic on water. Eoghan also competed in the CMU191x.
- Ashleigh Brooking, wow, what a formidable double you and Ruby made;
- Debbie Fox for releasing Ash to row with Ruby;
- Liam James for jumping in with Tahli and partnering her to a pb
"To the parents, helpers, those that fell out of bed at 4.00am to make sure they could answer the call for extra hands and assistance in getting everyone on the water in time - THANK YOU THANK YOU. Without such support we are just a rag tag group trying to find the way; with you all we can conquer the world." said Barbara.
RESULTS:
SINGLES: - Rec 500 and 1km: 1st - Rec 500M NSW State Championship AS Male - Zarni Tun 1st - Rec 500M NSW State Championship LTA Female - Tahli Hind 1st - 1km NSW State Championship 1x - Caitlin Lisle
3rd -1km - NSW State Championship LTA 1x - Kevin Wall
DOUBLES: 1st - NSW State Championship LTA 2x - Kevin Wall / Eoghan Kilbridge 3rd - NSW State Championship LTA 2x - Ruby Sutherland / Ashleigh Brooking 4th - NSW State Championship LTA2x - Tahli Hind / Liam James
FOUR: 1st - NSW Championship LTA 4+: Kevin Wall, James T, Matilda Slater-Phillips, Ruby Sutherland, Cox Renae Domaschenz
We finished with 5 Championships and two bronze medals. Not bad for a competing squad of 9!