International racing season is here!

Published Mon 19 Jun 2023

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t's been a massive couple of weeks for NSW athletes with plenty of amazing achievements on the international stage. With the domestic season all wrapped up and the JB Sharp Series underway it has been great to turn our attention overseas.

Firstly we have had Bronte Marshall (Community) 3 Gold & 2 Silver, Kathleen Hextall 1 Gold & 1 Silver and Julia Story 1 Gold, 3 Silver & 1 Bronze (Drummoyne) represent Australia at the Virtus Global Games over in Vichy France. Australian records went crumpling on the ergo component of the competition and plenty of medals for all our amazing para athletes.

We also have plenty of faces from NSW in the PR3 Mixed Coxed Four with Lisa Greissl (Lake Macquarie) , Thomas Birtwhistle (UTS) and Harrison Nichols (Hunter Valley) winning 2 Gold 🥇 at the International Para Regatta in Gavirate, Italy.

Overnight at Henley Women's Regatta, Talisa Knoke-Driver and Lucy Searle won the Junior 18 Women’s Double making it back to back for Sydney Rowing Club and Felix Dieu in the event. The girls are back in action tonight in a quad! Over the weekend we also saw World Cup 2 action from Varese Italy.

It was great to see our Senior Australian Team in action on the international stage with plenty of positive results going into World Cup 3 and World Championships. In a highlight of the weekend, Georgie Rowe (UTS) gave the kiss of approval after claiming Gold in the Women's 8. Great results are also emerging for the up and coming Laura Gourley (UTS) in the double though they were just unable to hold onto the pack in the last 200m coming away with a gutsy 4th. Tara Rigney (SUBC) had another great outing coming away with a Silver in the ultra competitive Single Scull. To round out an epic weekend the Women's Four also walked away with some silverware napping a bronze behind strong US and GB crews.

The men had strong results but will be hunting down Great Britain in World Cup 3. In Varese the boys walked away with Silver in both the Men's Eight and the Mens Four which saw a strong representation with 3/4 of the crew being from NSW. It was also a Bronze for new combination in the pair in Jack O'Brien and Angus Dawson.

We are excited to see the next couple of weeks unfold with the Henley Royal Regatta showcasing Pymble Ladies College and Sydney Rowing Club. Together they make up an extensive Australian representation already in England for what will be an exciting few weeks for them. Also coming up is World Cup 3 where our National Training Centre athletes will be getting one last taste of the international field before the World Championships in September, which will have extra meaning as it marks the start of the Olympic Qualification process.