KINROSS Wolaroi can now lay claim to the fastest schoolgirls coxed quad scull in Australian National Championship history after Nicola Thomas, Madeline Hawthorne, Georgina Uttley, Kate Hall, and Siobahn Herbert smashed the previous mark by two seconds last week.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Taking to the International Regatta Centre at Penrith last Sunday for the final, the Kinross girls beat the rest of the competition convincingly to win gold.
A fine achievement in itself.
But it was the crew’s work against the clock that had heads turning.
Stopping the clock at seven minutes and 9.96 seconds after the 2000 metres, the Kinross girls broke the race’s national record by two seconds to become the fastest schoolgirls coxed quad scull outfit.
Hall couldn’t find the words to describe the achievement.
“It was really exciting. It was a bit unexpected, but it was just really good,” Hall said.
“It was a great way to finish our season.”
The new benchmark time of 7.09.96 didn’t come as a surprise to Kinross Wolaroi rowing coaches Crina Dihel and Sinisa Kosarac.
“We knew they could do it from the state championship. They broke the state championship’s record and that time was three seconds off of this,” Dihel said.
“We knew if we worked hard the last four weeks (the girls could break the record).”
She said the team’s dedication is second to none.
The Kinross rowers are up at the school each morning at 5.30am in readiness to train.
“When everybody is asleep we’re out on the water. And it’s so dark now we have to use a torch. The coxes have the torches on their heads,” Dihel laughed, with the girls’ crew finishing four seconds and two lengths ahead of the rest of the championship’s field.
“It was crazy. It was exciting. We were riding our bikes next to them marshalling and timing them.”
