A day of repechages and semifinals saw a bunch of Otago competitors qualify for medal races at the national rowing championships on Lake Karapiro yesterday.
All but the final six races of the day were repechage races, with Otago rowers featuring in many of them.
Otago University Rowing Club's women's club coxed four of Hazel Cunliffe, Natasha Bonham-Carter, Juliette Alm-Lequeux, Georgia Bewley and coxswain Jessica Mulligan won their repechage in 7min 49.37sec to book a spot in the medal race later this week.
Alm-Lequeux had a busy day, finishing second in the under-20 single repechage to qualify for the semifinals earlier.
However, needing a top-four finish in yesterday afternoon's semifinal, she bowed out with a fifth place.
Needing to win their repechage to reach the semifinals of the women's club double, Oamaru rowers Sydney Telfer and Maysie Scott stepped up to the challenge to win in 7min 44.71sec.
Sydney Cook and Macaela Turfus, of Dunstan, and Hazel Cunliffe and Natasha Bonham-Carter, of Otago University Rowing Club, reached the semifinals after good performances in Monday's heats.
Scott and Telfer finished third in the women's senior double in 8min 04.95sec to advance to the final.
Penelope Barnsdale and Hannah Duggan were fourth 0.99sec later and also qualified for the final courtesy of the repechage.
Dunstan's Kaea Anderson, Jas McIntosh, Emma Borland, Sophie Williamson and coxswain Sophie Smith needed a top-three finish in the women's novice coxed quad, and cruised to a comfortable 6sec win over Tauranga Rowing Club's crew.
The Dunstan crew split for the women's novice double semifinals last night, with both crews recording top-four finishes to advance to the final.
Anderson and McIntosh finished second in the first semifinal, before Borland and Williamson finished third in the other.
Michael Williams and Inan Diwan, of the Otago University Rowing Club, had a comfortable win in the men's novice double repechage to book a spot in the medal race.
Oamaru's Mark Taylor, Jared Brenssell, Charlie Wallis and James Scott also ensured themselves of a shot at a medal when they finished fifth in the men's senior coxless quad repechage.
With all repechage races now completed, semifinals and finals will be contested over the next three days.
Almost 900 rowers from 49 organisations are contesting the national championships.
