With less than a month to go until the national championships, the field has begun to spread in the later stages of the season, separating the contenders for victory. So far this season, the women’s club quadruple sculls has offered little consistency, making it a highly unpredictable category. As such, there are only two main contenders who can be confidently predicted within the top positions.
West End Rowing Club
Despite earlier performances, West End Rowing Club seemed to find their feet in a new combination debuted at Karāpiro Christmas Regatta. Amanda Badger, Jasmine Brake, Milan Teinakore and Brittany Smith surprised their competition with a commanding win in the Club coxless quad. The group has significant experience backing their performance, including Brake, who, after taking several years away from competitions, returned to success this season. At a local level, winning both the Open and Club double sculls events with Teinakore at Bennett Shield and Eric Verdonk Regattas in addition to the pair, then joining forces again to represent Auckland at the North Island Interprovincial Regatta with a win in the Open double sculls. Badger also brings significant racing experience to the group, winning four events at the Legion of Rowers North Island Masters Championships last year, on top of achieving a silver medal in the Mixed Club coastal coxed quadruple sculls at the New Zealand Coastal Championships. Finally, Smith returned to racing for the first time since 2013 this season with great success, with a win in the Masters A-C coxed eight at the New Zealand Masters Championships, representing Dunstan Arm Rowing Club. Smith then went on to represent Otago in the Mainland Interprovincial Regatta with a win in the coxed eight.
Aramoho Whanganui Rowing Club
Despite their non-attendance at the Memorial and Club regattas, the crew of Addison Jenkins, Ruby Bullock, Olive Strahan and Caralie Hanna made an impression later in the season for Aramoho Whanganui. Following a double win across the Club coxless quadruple sculls and under-17 coxed quad, the young crew went on to finish runners-up at Karāpiro Christmas Regatta before the season break. All four of the athletes were selected to represent Whanganui at the North Island Interprovincial Regatta, with Jenkins and Hanna making up half of the crew finishing second in the Open coxless quadruple sculls, despite being one of the younger crews competing. Bullock joined the duo at last year’s Maadi Regatta to secure a gold medal in the Under-16 coxed quad, further testament to their ability to handle the pressure of racing. An impressive achievement to be holding their own within the Club category, the crew from Aramoho Whanganui will be keen to see how they can fare in this regatta.
Prediction
With very little consistency in results, there is limited confidence in who will secure the title of North Island coxless quadruple sculls champion. Based entirely on their experience, I would have to pip West End ahead of Aramoho Whanganui, however, there have been a range of clubs jumping around the top finishing spots throughout the later competitions last year, so there is definitely opportunity for an unexpected crew to come in and give them a run for the title.
