Nine athletes, eight races, 250 metres, five minutes and $5000 for the winner. They’re the key numbers ahead of Rowing New South Wales’ Eliminator event this weekend, a new format scheduled for the lunch break of the Schoolgirl and Schoolboy Heads of the River this weekend.
The racing begins with nine athletes racing 250m, with the last dropping out and the rest heading back to the start. They have just five minutes to get back to the start, where the remaining eight do it all again until we’re left with a final two. Think of a bleep test on water, and you’re not far off.
A beep test doesn’t normally come with prize money, though. There’s $5000 for the winner, $3000 for second and $2000 for third. But who will walk away with the women’s winners cheque?
Tara Rigney
Want a favourite? How about the reigning national champion who’s also a two-time world championship bronze medallist? Despite taking a post-Olympics year “off”, the Sydney University sculler still won the women’s singles at February’s New South Wales Championships. She’s one of the few to put Olympic champion Karolien Florijn under pressure in recent years, so the only question is whether the sprint format suits her.
Laura Gourley
Rigney’s not the only Australian Olympic sculler racing, though. UTS’ Laura Gourley made her Olympic debut in Paris in the women’s quads, finishing second in the B-final. She also helped qualify the women’s double with Amanda Bateman at the 2023 World Rowing Championships and won three silvers at the 2024 Australian Rowing Championships. The sprint format may help someone who rowed on her neighbour’s irrigation dam in Narrabri during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Aisling Hayes
Sydney University’s Aisling Hayes qualified at the Small Boats Regatta, besting the field by over two seconds across the 500m course. The Irish rower followed that with a strong fourth at the NSW Championships, although wasn’t at her best at the Riverview Gold Cup. Hayes has a gold in the intermediate single at the Irish Rowing Championships, so knows how to move the boat quickly.
Olivia Tonge
The second qualifier from the Small Boats Regatta, North Shore’s Tonge is likely more used to racing shorter distances than the others. A regular on the masters and grade circuits, Tonge won one gold and two bronze at the 2024 Australian Masters Rowing Championships at Lake Barrington.
Lucy Spoors
New Zealand’s Lucy Spoors is an Olympic gold and silver medallist who knows what it takes to win. A memorable gold in the doubles with Brooke Francis added to a close silver in the eights in Tokyo. The Canterbury rower recently had a handy training partner, joining Olympic single scull champion Karolien Florijn on her recent trip to New Zealand.
Clare Jamison
Another of the event’s international entrants, Jamison will pull on the light blue of Commercial Rowing Club of Brisbane rather than one from her native England. She’s had serious success in the coastal boats, winning silver in the solo final at last year’s Beach Sprints Finals and silver in the mixed double in 2022. That experience in the sprint events may well pay off in this one.
Georgie Rowe
One of the bigger personalities in the Australian Rowing Team, UTS’ Rowe is better known as a sweeper than in the scull. She’s been training the sculls more in recent times, and as a multiple world record holder on the erg, she can certainly put in the effort when needed. Expect to see Rowe in the latter stages of the event, where her technique will need to stand up under fatigue and pressure.
Bella Scammell
A 2022 junior world champion in the coxed fours, Sydney’s Scammell is another more commonly seen sweeping than sculling. She’s got some solid sweep form, with golds at the NSW Championships and Small Boats Regatta in the U23 pairs with Adelaide University’s Sophie Barr.
Cara Grzeskowiak
At New South Wales Championships, Canberra’s Grzeskowiak waltzed up the Hume Highway and walked away with a bronze in the single scull – and it wouldn’t surprise to see her do the same again here. Unbeaten in Canberra women’s singles since 2016, Grzeskowiak has a competitiveness that should serve her well over the multiple-race Eliminator.
Prediction
Rigney’s form in Australia and abroad has her the favourite here. It wouldn’t surprise to see Spoors, Jamison or Grzeskowiak in the final against her, at which point it would come down to sheer determination. We’re tipping gold for Rigney, silver for Spoors and bronze for Grzeskowiak.
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