Australian National Champs completed

West Australia winning King’s Cup

A record 1,300 senior and junior athletes spent a week at Sydney’s Olympic rowing course in Australia competing at the DHL Australian Rowing Championships.

Australia’s national team captain Simon Burgess used the championships to retire at the top of his game by winning the lightweight men’s four for the seventh consecutive year. Burgess competed at three Olympic Games and leaves the sport with two Olympic silvers as well as five World Rowing Championships medals.

Burgess will return to his occupation as an apple farmer in Geeveston, Tasmania where his town’s main street now sports a hand-carved wooden statue of their rowing hero.

One of the highlights of the regatta, the Kings Cup for interstate men’s eights, was raced on the final day and all eyes were on Queensland who hoped to break their loosing streak in the event. Queensland’s boat featured four-time Olympian Bo Hansen competing in his fifteenth Kings Cup, but Hanson’s crew Queensland’s crew faced stiff competition. Most frequent winner, Victoria was boosted this year by Olympian David Crawshay who scratched from the single to focus on this race and Olympic gold medallist Drew Ginn stroking the boat.

Western Australia, however, proved to have the right race plan and will take the Kings Cup back to the west coast with them. Coach for Western Australia Antonio Maurogiovanni praised the success of the race plan.

?We aimed to be in front from the first stroke and to be in front at the finish,? said Maurogiovanni.

Ginn’s partner Tomkins did not race this year but has been a frequent competitor in the Victoria boat.

In the women’s single 19-year-old Sally Kehoe took on Olympic bronze medallists Amber Bradley and Dana Faletic. Kehoe, however, is not new to top level rowing. She has already scored gold at the World Rowing Junior Championships for the last two years. Kehoe also rowed up a level last year scooping the Under 23 silver medal in the single while still a junior. 

But rather than the expected challenge coming from Bradley, who struggled with steering issues, Kehoe had to fight off a strong middle 1000 by Faletic. Kehoe’s strong finish put her back on top with Faletic finishing in the silver position. 

Kehoe wins the single

Kehoe is being touted as the next ‘superstar’ of Australian rowing and continued to show her skill by teaming up with Bradley to win the double. Behind them Bradley’s Athens crewmates Faletic and Kerry Hore challenged hard but could only manage second.

Scott Brennan took double honours by first winning the men’s single then teaming up with Brendon Long to win the double. Both athletes are continuing at the top level after racing at Athens. Together in the double they held off Olympic single sculler Craig Jones and Under 23 champion Henry Gundry.

Conrad & Cabusch in the men’s pair

National performance director Noel Donaldson said in Rowing Australia’s press release that he was buoyed by the record number of entrants.

?We’ll be witnessing the start of a fascinating new cycle,” said Donaldson. “Many of the regular names in the sport will now be challenged by future Olympians. It’s exciting to see what we can produce, with an eye to the next world titles in Japan in August.?

The Australian Rowing Championships doubled as national team trials in some categories for rowers aiming to represent Australia at this year’s international events. Australia plans to compete at the World Rowing Junior Championships in Brandenburg, Germany, in July, the World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Amsterdam in early August, and the World Rowing Championships in Gifu, Japan in late August.

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