Congratulations to the Club's Winners of the Samsung Awards

Wellington Rowing Club members won awards at the Wellington Rowing Association's Samsung Rower of the Year awards on 21 June 2006.

Brent Ashley won the Administrator of the Year Award. Mike Dessoulavy (Ratboy) won Coxswain of the Year Award. Margaret Mather was joint winner with Gillian Press from Star of the Volunteer of the Year Award. This was for all their work in organising the fundraising efforts for the joint fighting fund - Margaret for the Quiz Night and Gillian for the Art Exhibition. Between them they raised in excess of $30,000.

Other nominees from the club were Merve (James) Little and Kerstin Burridge for Rower of the Year (won by Ben Norling from Petone) and Katrina Lawrence for Coach of the Year (won by Greg Stothers from Petone). The judges made a special commendation to Katrina, congratulating her on all her work and successes over the years.

Congratulations to all winners and nominees, well done for a good season. We are lucky to have such good people as members of our club.

Congratulations to Michael Dessoulavy

Congratulations to Michael Dessoulavy, Wellington Rowing Club coxswain, on his selection as a triallist for the New Zealand juniors. Trials are to be held at Lake Karapiro from 18-24 April, and we wish Michael all the best.

Maadi Cup 2006

The season ended for the club's school rowers from St Marys, Samuel Marsden and St Pats with the secondary school champs (Maadi Cup) held at Lake Ruataniwha from 27 March to 2 April. The huge number of rowers turning out (with 101 secondary schools represented), and some fiercely competitive fields didn't stop the Wellington rowers from achieving some great results. Overall the club's school rowers made 3 A finals, 8 B finals, and achieved 6 top 10 placings.

Of note was the 5th place finish of St Pats sculler Rowan Barbalich in the Mens Under 18 single, making the top 5 from a starting field of over 30 scullers. St Pats also made two other A finals, finishing 8th in the finals of the Boys Under 18 pair (with Rowan combining with Robert Ashley), and the Boys Under 17 quad. The pair of Rowan and Robert again teamed up in the Under 18 double to get a top 10 placing with second in the B final. St Pats also made B finals in the boys Under 16 and Under 17 doubles.

Samual Marsden picked up two top 10 placings, winning the B final of the girls Under 17 Novice four, and coming second in the B final of the Under 15 eight. Marsden also made the B final of the girls Under 16 eight. St Marys finished 3rd in the B final of the Girls Under 18 four, and Rebecca Tong took 5th in the B final (13th place overall) from a massive starting field of almost 50 scullers in the girls Under 17 single.

Congratulations to all crews involved in a great season.

Obituary

It is with sadness that we record the sudden passing of valued club member Brent Hazelwood.

Brent commenced his rowing career with the Wellington Rowing Club when he was about 38 years old. He won a gold medal in the Novice eight at the 2000 New Zealand Rowing Championships. He continued rowing in the club grade and then turned his hand to coaching - coaching novice and club class crews for Wellington.

Brent could best be described as the "ideal club member" - he was always willing to volunteer his services, from coaching, to filling in a seat for an absent crew member, to doing work around the club, Brent was always there. His skills with woodwork were outstanding - he crafted new trophies for the club's prizegiving and made all the trophies for the Corporate Rowing. He also put his general building skills to use in the shed, helping rebuild the men's changing room and with the interior lining and painting of the erg room.

His love for and support of rowing continued long after he took up a new sport of cycling - he was always available to help out coaches and often umpired at local regattas.

The Wellington Rowing Club sends its condolences to Brent's wife, Anne, and to his family and close friends.

Congratulations to Clemmie Marshall

Congratulations to Clemmie Marshall on her selection to the NZ Women's Eight - Clemmie started her rowing career with the Wellington Rowing Club, rowing for Samuel Marsden during her school years and then for the club before she moved to Christchurch for university. The club is proud to have had an association with another New Zealand representative - we taught her everything she knows!!

North Island Secondary Schools Champs 2006

The Club's school rowers from St Mary's, Onslow and Samuel Marsden Colleges competed in the North Island Secondary Schools Championships from 10-12 March at Lake Karapiro. While none of the crews managed to make the medal dias, there were some good results. Onslow College made four A finals, coming 5th in the Boys Under 17 quad, 6th in the Boys Under 17 eight, 7th in the Boys Under 16 double and 6th in the Girls Under 17 four. St Mary's sculler Rebecca Tong also had a good result, making the A final of the Girls Under 17 single, from a competitive field of 35, and finishing 8th.

Season End for the Adult Rowers: National Champs 2006

The season ended for the club's adult rowers with the National Champs held at Lake Karapiro from 21st-25th February. The club had 23 crews entered in 17 events in all classes from premier to novice (excluding Under 21 and Under 19), of which 14 crews rowed in finals and 9 finished 4th or better. These results show strengthened depth in the club, particularly in the men's grades.

Hard training paid off for a number of crews, with the senior men achieving the club's best result, taking the silver medal in the Mens Club 8+. The Mens Senior 2- of James Little and Martin Tschaege took bronze, and combined with Mike Grace and Dave Campbell for a near-miss 4th in the hotly-contested Senior 4- final.

Also making the medal dias were the novice men, with a bronze medal in the Mens Novice 8+. The novice men's squad also had some close 4th placings in both the Novice 2x and Novice 4+.

In the women's grades, Kersten Burridge had a fantastic result making the final of the Women's Premier 1x (from a field of 14, including international level competition) and finishing 4th. The novice women made finals in both the novice 8+ and novice 4+, finishing a close 4th and 7th respectively.

Congratulations to all crews involved in a great season. A selection of photos from Champs are available in the Picture Gallery, and feel free to send any of your own photos to be put up on the website to webmaster@wellingtonrowing.org.nz.

Wanganui Champs 2006 Results

Wellington crews achieved some good results at the Wanganui Champs, held on 4-5 February 2006 on (yes, you guessed it) the Wanganui River, with the novice crews in particular putting in some great performances. The novice men took out the final of the Novice 8+, 4+ and 2x events, while the novice women had a great win in the final of the Womens Novice 4+.

Other gold medalists on the day were the Womens Under17 2- and the Mens Open 4-. For their efforts in the coxless four, the senior men won the Wally Sharpe Memorial Trophy (don't ask me who Wally Sharpe was, but its always good to get a bit of silverware in the trophy cabinet).

Novice Men Clean Up at KRI2 Regatta!

The KRI2 Regatta was held at Lake Karapiro on Saturday 28 January. Wellington's novice men made a clean sweep (excuse the pun) of the novice sweep oar events, taking out both the 4+ and 8+ A finals, competing against strong fields from clubs across the North Island. Other great results were second in the A final of the Mens Senior 4- for the senior mens squad, and a third placing in the A final of the Novice 8+ for the novice women.

Wellington Champs 2006 Results

A small contingent of rowers represented Wellington at the Wellington Champs, held on the Lambton Harbour course on Saturday 28 January 2006. While a lack of numbers meant the club was never really in the running for the overall regatta points, there were some great results from the Club's scullers. Rowan Barbalich won both the Mens Open and Club 1x, and teamed up with Gerard Barbalich to take out the Mens Open 2x. And Kersten Burridge had a good win in the Womens Open 1x.

McLachlan Shield 2005 Results

While the adult rowers raced at Marlborough on Saturday 10th December, the secondary school rowers stayed at home for the McLachlan Shield secondary schools regatta, held at Korokoro. The regatta was taken out by Wellington College, with Onslow College the best place school from the Wellington Rowing Club, finishing 4th overall.

Notable results for Onslow College were wins in the Boys U16 4+, 4x and 8+. St Mary's College picked up wins in the Under19 4x and Under17 8+.

Marlborough Champs 2005 Results

The Senior Men, Junior Men, Novice Men and Novice Women all made the trip down south to the Marlborough Champs, held on the Wairau River on Saturday 10th December. There were some good results for all squads. The Senior Men finished third in the Mens Premier 4+, while the Junior Men placed third in the Under21 2- and the Novice Women finished third in the Novice 8+. The Novice Men had some of the best results, winning the Novice 4+ and placing second in the Novice 8+.

Jury Cup 2005 Results

A strong Wellington contingent travelled to Wanganui on Saturday 26th November for the Jury Cup regatta. Wellington put in a solid performance, finishing on 88 regatta points, ahead of local rivals Petone and Horowhenua, but well behind regatta winner Aramoho, who blitzed the field with 255 regatta points.

The Novice Women's squad continued an impressive string of results this season, winning the 4x and 8+, and coming second in the 4+ and 2x. Other winning crews were the Womens Under 17 4+, Womens Club 1x and the Mens Under21 1x.

Wellington Rowing Club is Top Dog!!

The Mothes Shield regatta was held at Korokoro on Saturday 19th November, with Wellington claiming victory and taking the Top Dog home to be painted in its rightful colours. Windy conditions meant the distance was shortened from 2000m to 1000m, and with the wind increasing the regatta was eventually abandoned after 21 of the scheduled 34 events.

The day kicked off with an exciting finish to the opening event of the Mens Club 1x with Wellington's Rowan Barbalich winning by a foot over Horowhenua. Wellington also came close to achieving a clean sweep of the 8's events raced, winning the Mens Club and Novice 8+, the Women's Open and Novice 8+, and coming second in the Women's Club 8+. Other winning Wellington crews in the events raced were the Mens Open 2-, Mens Club 4+ and Mens Novice 2x.

Congratulations to all involved in a successful regatta!

Norton Cup 2005 Results

The Norton Cup was held at Korokoro on Saturday 15th October. Competition was intense, but Star managed to clinch yet another regatta, finishing on 79 regatta points, one point ahead of Petone. Wellington finished further back in third place on 67 points.

Notable results were a five length win over Horowhenua by the Mens Open Coxless Four of Mike Turk, Martin Tschaege, James Little (all fresh from representing Wellington at the inter-provincial regatta at Lake Karapiro the previous week), and Paul Moreno. The Womens Novice Eight of Deidre Burke (coxswain), Oriwia Mason, Poppy Saker-Norrish, Joana Veale, Rebecca McKenzie, Catherine Duffin, Merideth Collinson, Sandy Stewart and Caitlin Youl provided the best finish of the day in their short canvas victory over Star. Other winning Wellington crews were: Mens Open 2x, Mens Club 8+, Mens Novice 2x and 4x, Womens Open 1x and 8+, Womens Club 2x and Womens Under17 4+.

Queens Cup 2005 Results

The first 2000m regatta of the season, the Queens Cup, was held at Lake Horowhenua on Saturday 24th September. Star came through to win its third regatta in a row for the season, with Wellington breaking its run of two straight third placings to clinch second spot ahead of Petone.

Porirua Goodwill 2005 Results

The Porirua Goodwill regatta was held on Porirua Harbour on Saturday 10th September, with racing over 1000m. Star clinched the regatta again, with Petone second and Wellington a close third.

Redding Shield 2005 Results

The Redding Shield, the first regatta of the 2005/06 season, was held over a 500m course at Korokoro on Saturday 20th August. The final result was extremely close, with Star and Petone sharing the Redding Shield and Wellington a close third.