BENDIGO Rowing Club’s Meaghan Lowndes, Livia Rosaia and Mikhayla Oxley stamped themselves as emerging elite female rowers following gold medal performances at the Murray Rowing Association’s two-day regatta at Lake Moodemere last weekend..
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The three young rowers dominated women’s sculling events, winning multiple gold medals over the 800m and 500 metre courses.
The two-day regatta was hosted by the Rutherglen, Wahgunyah and Corowa rowing clubs and attracted more than 600 athletes from across Victoria as well as Adelaide and Canberra.
The event forms part of Rowing Victoria’s 2018- 19 regatta series that culminates in the Victorian State Championships Regatta on March 2 at Lake Nagambie.
The weekend’s regatta results reinforced the growing strength of women’s rowing in Bendigo.
Lowndes confirmed her status as one of Victoria’s fastest female single scullers, winning gold in the female open single scull event over 800m.
The recent graduate from La Trobe University is on track to compete strongly in the forthcoming state titles.
Rosaia and Oxley were a dominant combination, placing first in both the D-grade and C-grade double scull events over 500m and in the D-grade double scull event over the longer 800m course.
For Oxley, the regatta results were a significant personal milestone after three years of disciplined training and perseverance to master the difficult sport.
Other Bendigo rowers to perform well included Pip Robertson and Amy Morgan, who recorded personal best times in single and double scull heats.
Both athletes missed qualifying for race finals by mere seconds.
Bendigo’s women’s rowing squad is a product of the club’s regional academy, and a joint initiative with the Rutherglen,
Wahgunya and Shepparton rowing clubs, under the direction of ex-British Olympic rowing coach Richard Hamilton.
The academy provides a talent pathway for young rowers in central and northern Victoria and focuses on training regimes to perfect the rowing technique and build cardio vascular fitness.
Bendigo’s young rowers have also benefited from instruction from former 2012 London Olympics rower Hannah Every-Hall as part of an intensive two-day rowing camp held last month on the Yarra River in partnership with the Power House Rowing Club.
Bendigo’s rowing crews will now turn their attention to the Barwon Regatta in Geelong on January 26.
