Australia’s top rowers were greeted with cold, wet and windy conditions on the second day of the 2009 Hydro Tasmania Australian Rowing Championships at Lake Barrington, Tasmania.
In the first of the women’s double scull, Olympians Sally Kehoe (QLD) and Sarah Cook (ACT) recorded a half boat length victory to progress directly to the final. Kehoe and Cook won in a time of 6:35.28. Pippa Savage (QLD) and Anna McRae (SA) finished second, while Lisa Szatsznajder (VIC) and Emma McCarthy finished in third place.
The all Queensland crew of Kimberley and Suzanne Brown won the second heat in a time of 7.31.60 to also progress to the final, but Kehoe and Cook will enter the final as favourites.
The heats of the men’s double sculls produced some tight racing as a number of high quality crews battled out for automatic qualification to the final.
Jeremy Stevenson (WA) and Steven Fletcher (WA), Kieran Kobelke (NSW) and Christopher Riddell, and Brendan Long (TAS) and Nick Hudson (NSW) were the respective winners of the heats of the men’s double scull.
In the repechages of the men’s pair, Olympic silver medallist Matt Ryan and partner Alex Scharp were relegated to last place after boat judges found their boat to be too light. The ruling cost Ryan and Scharp a place in the semi-final on Wednesday.
Repechages were also contested in the men’s and women’s single sculls, as well as the men’s and women’s lightweight single sculls, with the semi-finals of all these events to be held on Wednesday morning.
