Kiwi Rowers Defeat Australians In 3 Test Series

New Zealand university rowers beat their Australian counterparts 41-31 in a recently completed 3 test series.

“It is a very good result to beat the Australians who were expected to perform better”, said Darel Hall President of University Sport New Zealand.

“That said, our Women’s Eight really clicked during the series, but they have been putting in the hard work training six days a week twice a day.

“The New Zealand Universities Rowing Council crews have managed to win despite the Australian crews containing a sprinkling of ex-World U23 champs. This is a testament to the strength of university rowing which is always one of the most competitive sports at the usit BEYOND Travel University games,” Darel Hall said.

The next challenge for student rowers is the Lightweight crew which is competing at the I-Lan International Inter-Collegiate International Regatta in Taiwan in early September. New Zealand crews have generally finished first or second in the ‘B’ final, placing them 5th or 6th in the World.

Official Results from the University Rowing Trans-Tasman Test Series

Overall Points: New Zealand 41 points, Australia 31 points.

Women's Eight: New Zealand 15 points, Australia 9 points.
Women's Lightweight Quad: New Zealand 15 points, Australia 9 points.
Men's Eight: Australia 13 points, New Zealand Heavyweights 11 points.
NZ Lightweights 15 points(but do not count towards official points)

Test One 2000m, Lake Ruataniwha - Twizel.

Women's Eight: New Zealand beat Australia by 1 1/4 lengths.
Women's Lightweight Quad: New Zealand beat Australia by 5 lengths.
Men's Eight: NZ Lightweights beat NZ Heavyweights by 1 length, NZ
Heavyweights beat Australia by 1 foot. (NZ Lightweights do not count for
overall test points)

Test Two 2000m, Lake Hayes - Queenstown.

Women's Eight: New Zealand beat Australia by 1 1/4 lengths.
Women's Lightweight Quad: New Zealand beat Australia by 4 lengths.
Men's Eight: NZ Lightweights beat Australia Heavyweights by 1/4 length,
Australia beat NZ Heavyweights by 1/4 length. (NZ Lightweights do not count
for overall test points)

Test Three 5000m, Otago Harbour - Dunedin.

Women's Eight: New Zealand beat Australia by 5 lengths.
Women's Lightweight Quad: New Zealand beat Australia by 5 lengths.
Men's Eight: NZ Lightweights beat Australia Heavyweights by 1 1/4 lengths,
Australia beat NZ Heavyweights by 1 1/2 lengths (NZ Lightweights do not
count for overall test points)

© Scoop Media