Corowa rowers take on Maribyrnong River

With three lanes on the narrow course, a win in the heats was required to progress through to finals.

A large entry in the female B grade single sculls meant two divisions were required.

With all our rowers having their first row on the Maribyrnong, getting familiar with the course was the early priority.

Lily Rose was up first and, in a strong display from the start, led all the way for the win.

Imogen Wragge was next, backing up from last week’s HOSG in Geelong, and she navigated the course to take the win and join Lily Rose in the final.

Both scullers steered a fantastic course, with little separating them.

Lily made her move at the halfway mark to push in front and hold on for the win.

The second division featured Eily Taylor and Phoebe Packer in separate heats.

First up was Phoebe, having her first race in a single scull since December, and finished second in a close battle.

Eily, also competing at the HOSG regatta last week, was in great form as she powered down the course to beat the local Footscray sculler and progress to the final.

In another tight race, Eily, the smaller sculler, pulled away over the last 200m to record the club’s 2nd win.

The club entered an Open mixed sweep oared four featuring Darren McMahon, Nick Wragge, Kylie Krause, Susie Scott Cox, and Will Hogan.

With three crews entered, race favourite Essendon took the lead as the Corowa crew had a battle with Hawthorn and showed great control over the concluding stages of the race to hold on to 2nd place.

The four female B grade scullers teamed up in the B grade quad scull, with Will Hogan taking control of the steering.

Lining up in a tough heat against Geelong, with four scullers who also competed at the HOSG last week, the Corowa crew in their first row together moved out with the Barwon quad.

Little separated both quads as they moved clear of the rest of the field, and in a strong display, Corowa held on by less than two seconds.

The final featured experienced crews from Richmond and Corio Bay, with Corowa determined to improve on their heat row.

They followed the race plan, as Will kept the crew on course, allowing them to take the lead from the start and lead all the way for the club’s 3rd win.

The female C grade quad scull saw Liz Sandow, Indi Hogan, Susie Scott, and Kylie Krause, with Eily taking on the coxswain role.

Lining up for their first race together they rowed a strong race to win their heat, then picked up the pace in the final to finish second with little separating the three crews.

Imogen and Phoebe teamed up in the B grade double scull, keen to keep the club’s perfect record in the B grade sculling events at the regatta.

The experienced Corowa double showed great teamwork to claim the heat win, and in a great battle in the final they pulled a length clear after the first 500m to record the club’s 4th win.

Darren and Nick teamed up in the C grade double scull and worked their way down the course to hold on for the win.

They continued their great steering over the course, keeping pace early before finishing in 3rd place in the final.

Lily Rose lined up in the A grade single sculls final against two Barwon scullers.

She showed great power and was too strong for her younger opposition, leading all the way to record the club’s 5th win.

Will Hogan was ready for his first race of the season, lining up in the 3rd heat in the C grade single.

Taking on the coxswain duties earlier in the regatta gave him a great opportunity to help with his steering as he powered down the course to record a great heat win.

Up against older and bigger opposition, Will worked hard and improved on his heat row, finishing in 3rd in the final.

Darren, Nick, Susie, Liz, with cox Eily, lined up for the mixed masters final and rowed a controlled race, gaining more race experience to finish in 3rd place.

Indi Hogan was ready to continue her confidence-building sculling from last week’s HOSG regatta, lining up in the C grade single.

She moved clear with her older opposition from Albert Park, and in a fantastic battle to the line, Indi finished three seconds behind the winner.

The final race for Liz and Susie was the female masters doubles, featuring three crews in the final.

The Corowa crew gave their all, finishing in 3rd place against some strong opposition.

The club’s last race was Darren in the Masters single scull.

Darren had a simple race plan: go out fast and hold on against his experienced opponent.

He shocked the rest of the field and made them work hard as he finished in 2nd place.

The club would like to thank all the rowers and families who raced and trained this season.

Competition now focuses on the masters regattas, with the Masters State Championships held at Nagambie in May.

Rowing will continue, with new rowers or anyone interested in joining our rowers for pre-season training invited to call in Monday and Wednesday from 4.30pm, and Sunday from 9.00am.