Grant reclaims lightweight single sculling title
Friday 20 February 2009, 10:55AM
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Wairau’s Duncan Grant – the current Lightweight World Champion – reclaimed the national title with a fine victory in the Men’s Lightweight Single Sculls race this morning at Lake Ruantaniwha.
Grant, racing for the Central Regional Performance Centre - was lined up against Graham Oberlin-Brown – the current Under-23 Lightweight World Champion – and after a close start Grant started to assert himself with some powerful rowing. Going through halfway he had established a clear margin over his Te Awamutu rival.
In the final 500 metres Oberlin-Brown attacked and pushed up the rating, but Grant responded and if anything, stretched a two length lead out even further. His time of 7 minutes and 4 seconds was excellent and represented a six second margin of victory.
Third – some way behind the sport’s two lightweight sculling world champions – was Grant’s Central RPC team mate Benjamin Norling.
In the Men’s Premier Pair, two crews emerged from a quality field to lead the chase for gold. Hamish Bond and Jade Uru from the Southern RPC and North Island rivals Waikato in the shape of Eric Murray and Simon Watson. Murray and Bond are team mates from the 2007 world champion coxless four and have been tipped to line up in the pair at this season’s international regattas.
Southern RPC had established a lead at halfway but came under increasing and relentless attack by the Waikato pair. It was only in the last 250 metres that Bond and Uru established a comfortable lead – Uru taking his first Red Coat win and Bon retaining the title he won last year paired with Carl Meyer. Auckland were a distant third behind the first two.
The weather at Ruataniwha has deteriorated today, with steady rain putting a dampener on proceedings. Water conditions, however, are excellent.
Picture shows: Lightweight single sculling World Champion Duncan Grant reclaimed the national title in style at the BankLink New Zealand Rowing Championships at lake Ruataniwha this morning.
Results and schedule of rowing here