A beautiful weekend with clear skies and light winds proved a positive opener to the Junior Regatta season for the Wānaka Rowing Club.   

A large team of Wānaka athletes attended the Aoraki 1000 as part of a 450-strong field for two days of racing over a short course of 1000m.  

Designed as a fun regatta with a focus on supporting novice racers into the season, the local team competed in both straight age group races and in composite crews of novice and experienced rowers, enabling the experienced to mentor the newbies.

“It was a thrill for the squad to have crews entered across a range of disciplines, including  novice octuples of both boys and girls - the ability to field two crews in the big boats an indicator of the growing numbers in the junior club,” Wānaka Rowing Club spokesperson Karen Wells said. 

“It was also a treat to see our senior boys Anton Jones and Phillip Massey competing in a pair, a new addition to their schedule this year.”

While the focus of the Aoraki 1000 is on getting experience in regatta settings and establishing systems for the season to come, there were also some commendable age group results to celebrate, Karen said.

All up the squad competed in 19 A finals and 6 B finals - with the whole squad enjoying a busy weekend on the water. 

Top results included: Boys U15 Coxed Octuple gaining a second in their A final; Girls U16 Double Sculls (Millen and Radford) third in their A final; Under 16 Single Scull (Millen) third place A Final; Under 15 Single Scull (Marsden) second place A Final; Open Women Double Scull (Wells and Massey) third A Final; Open Women Quad (Wells, Ritchie, Massey, Ritchie and M Smith) second A final.

“The early season results will be encouraging for both coaches and athletes, who are now moving into a full training programme as they ready themselves for the Meridian Otago Champs on December 9,” Karen said.

She thanked the club’s supporters and generous van sponsors.

PHOTOS: Supplied