2009 Australian Youth Olympic Festival Results

The Sydney International Regatta Centre played host to the Rowing component of the 2009 Australian Youth Olympic Festival. Run bi-annually since 2001 by the Australian Olympic Committee, the festival aims to discover future Olympic Champions and provide young athletes with an experience similar to that of the Olympic Games by staying in village-style accommodation. 

The regatta took place over 2 days, with New Zealand, China and Great Britain sending teams to Sydney to compete against the 6 Australian States as well as the Australian Capital Territory. 

NSW Squad

The first of the small boats to race was the Women’s Single Sculls. New South Wales were represented by Johanna Tarrant as well as Australian Junior team member, Anna Kaszycki. The duo managed to qualify for the B Final, with Tarrant winning the small final by just 0.01 seconds, after a rowing through the field following a conservative start. Kasycki was outsprinted in the last 500m to place 5^th for a ranking of 13^th overall. The A final saw former NSW representative Sorelle Bowman, now racing for the ACT, adopt a brave all or nothing approach, taking off at a scorching place, only to suffer in the second half of the race and finish 7^th behind winner, Leah Stanley of New Zealand.

NSW Under 19 Single Sculling Champion Nick Purnell joined former Australian Junior Team member Aleksander Berzins as the State’s competitors in the Men’s Single Scull, with both qualifying for the A final. World Junior Bronze Medallist, Taylor Wilczynski of Tasmania was the pre-race favourite and led all the way winning in an impressive time of 7:03.69, ahead of Berry of New Zealand with Purnell claiming Bronze. Berzins started the A final well, but found himself back in the later stages and decided it would be best to conserve energy for his other 2 events.
 

Paul Coates; Team Manager, Glenn Bates; Women's Coach, Gary Robertson; Men's Coach,  Adam Vine-Hall; Women's Coach, Mark Prater; Men's Coach

In the Women’s Pair’s, Australian Junior Representatives Beatrix Sheldrick and Ashleigh Peppernell were contesting the event in which they are Australian Junior Champions. The crew qualified for an ultra competitive A Final, in which just three and a half boat lengths separated Gold Medallists Great Britain from 8^th placed Victoria, and finished 7^th. The NSW pairing of Samantha Doyle and Sarah Handley qualified for the B Final and finished 5^th for a ranking of 13^th overall.

Great Britain dominated the three Men’s sweep oar events, winning all 3 boat classes at the regatta, including claiming the top 2 places in the Men’s Coxless Pair. Both NSW crews (Will Gilbert and Ryan Edwards as well as Scott Woodward and Matthew Dignan) qualified for the B Final with the former edging out the latter for second place in the small final.

New South Wales’ first medal came in the Women’s Lightweight Double Scull with Olivia Heath and Alison Smith claiming Silver less than a boat length behind New Zealand. The pairing won another Silver Medal, behind Great Britain, in the Women’s Quad Scull with Tarrant and Kaszycki, pushing past Queensland late in the race with the gap between Silver and Bronze, just 0.01 seconds. 

NSW Women's Lightweight Double - SILVER

NSW Women's Quad - SILVER

The all-Sydney University pairing of Charles Budd and Edward De Carvalho also won a Silver Medal in the Men’s Lightweight Double Scull with Great Britain claiming Gold. However, when the two single scullers Berzins and Purnell were added to form the Quad Scull, the tables were turned with NSW defeating Great Britain by just 30cm in a photo-finish.

NSW Men's Lightweight Double - SILVER

NSW Men's Quad - GOLD

The NSW Women’s Coxless Four qualified for the A final. A close final was expected with the fours being drawn from each team’s coxless pair crews and Great Britain once again came out on top. NSW, represented by Sheldrick, Peppernell, Doyle and Handley, finished in 6^th place, four and a half boat lengths in arrears.

NSW Women's Four

NSW Men's Four

In the Men’s equivalent the same placings occurred, with NSW again claiming 6^th, behind winners, Great Britain, who narrowly edged out New Zealand. The crew of Gilbert, Edwards, Woodward and Dignan, raced stroke for stroke with Queensland for the majority of the race, however were unable to overhaul the northern state.

The team reserves were next to race in Single Sculls, with Steffanee Colgrave making her NSW debut. Queensland’s Rebecca Cuss proved a cut above winning comfortably from Colgrave in second place. In the Men’s Reserve Single Scull, London Rowing Club’s Joshua Butler won comfortably for Great Britain, with NSW sculler Tomas Cartmill placing 6^th.

NSW Women's Reserve

NSW Men's Reserve

The final two events on the program were the Eights and New Zealand came out on top in the Women’s Final, defeating Queensland in a repeat of the Youth Cup regatta in September. New South Wales were pushed back into 6^th place in the concluding stages by Western Australia.

NSW Men's Eight & Reserve

NSW Women's Eight & Reserve

The Men’s Eight capped off the program and saw Great Britain claim their seventh gold medal, an increase of 1 from 2007, in an impressive time of 5:53.30. New South Wales managed to hold off a fast finishing Western Australian crew to claim fourth.

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