Wānaka rowers in the 2021 NZ Masters rowing regatta finished the two-day competition, held last weekend, with 11 medals among them.

The regatta took place at Lake Ruataniwha and seven Wanaka masters took part, five of them novice racers attending only their second regatta.

Warming their blades for the first hit out of the day on Friday, masters Mark Edmond, Alanna Brett, Chelsea Lodge and Dana Leishman placed second in the novice mixed quad. 

Sandra Booth and Alanna Brett tested themselves with a creditable sixth place in the highly competitive open women's D double. 

Dana Leishman combined with Chelsea Lodge for a second place in Woman’s A double and again, with partner in life and novice rower Kahn Cawte, to cross the line first in the mixed novice double - but the time penalty for being A grade rowers saw the tint of their medal change from gold to silver. 

Other notable performances for Friday’s racing saw Alanna Brett and Chelsea Lodge teaming up in the novice double to take second place, only trailing the winning boat, Union from Canterbury, by 1.2 seconds.

In the open mixed A-C quad Mark Edmond, Chelsea Lodge, Sandra Booth and Shane Gibson produced the fastest Wānaka boat time of the day, crossing the line for a closely fought eight place. 

Racing for Saturday only saw double boats being raced. 

Mark Edmond and Shane Gibson teamed up in the C men’s double to place fourth and Mark Edmond and Kahn Cawte placed second in a highly competitive field of novice men’s doubles. 

Sandra Booth and Shane Gibson rowed in the mixed D double to place sixth, and to round the day off Shane Gibson and Dana Leishman competed in the mixed A – C double finishing with a respectable fifth.

Overall, the Wānaka team came away with 11 medals for their weekend's efforts and were well satisfied with their results given the experience of the squad.

The annual Aoraki 1000m regatta also took place at Lake Ruataniwha in the two days after the NZ Masters regatta.

The Aoraki regatta is used by South Island clubs as an introduction for novice rowers who race over a shortened 1000 metre course. 

Wānaka Rowing Club attended with a contingent of 17 youth athletes including five boys and 12 girls, plus 10 novice athletes who had never raced at a regatta before.

Wānaka had a fantastic regatta on great water qualifying for 15 A finals. 

Two of the novice girls’ doubles races were cancelled on Sunday afternoon when the rest of the regatta was abandoned due to wind, but the club still managed to gain three wins and four third placings. 

After qualifying their 50 percent double (50 percent novice and 50 percent experienced rower) Grace Heath and Bella Sarginson won their A final in a solid display. 

The experience of Emily Finlay and Ella Kaler helped Isabella Noble-Kirkbride and Izzy Edmond, coxed by Pieta Craig, make a clean sweep of their heat and A Final in the 50 percent woman’s novice quad. 

Lola Ritchie, Grace Heath, Annie Wells and Lucy Maibach, coxed by Thomas Mitchel, also won their heat and had an emphatic 24 second win over the second placed boat in their A final.