Rowing: Strack, Nisbet in form at Canterbury Champs

Otago rowers Lucy Strack and Michael Nisbet continued their good form when facing some big guns at the Canterbury Championships over the weekend.

The championships on Lake Ruataniwha attracted eight competitors from the Rowing New Zealand elite performance squad while there was also a squad present from the central regional performance centre based in Blenheim.

Strack, from the North End club, raced in the single sculls and, after easily winning the under-21 heat, progressed to the senior final.

She started slowly in the final but kicked on from the halfway stage, and finished just two seconds behind national representative Louise Trappit and just under six seconds behind winner Fiona Patterson, also a nationally ranked rower.

Strack recorded a personal best, a shade over 7min 55sec, and is in good form for the national championship in a couple of weeks.

Nisbet, from the North End club, logged an impressive effort in the single sculls, finishing second behind Olympian Nathan Cohen, and finishing ahead of elite squad member Matthew Trott.

Nisbet also teamed with Otago Boys High School pupil Robbie Mears to finish fifth in the open double.

The Oamaru club had a good weekend, with its under-16 eight winning its race, seeing off a strong challenge from Rangi Ruru College.

Oamaru also won the under-16 four.

The Dunstan Arm club dominated the under-16 coxed four, with an Alexandra-based team winning in front of another Dunstan Arm team made up of Cromwell-based rowers.

World champions Hamish Bond and Eric Murray convincingly won the pair, and then teamed with Cohen and Trott to contest the eights race, despite only having a four.

This made for some top-notch racing as the four tried its hardest to keep in touch with the bigger boats.

The race was won by the Central regional performance centre crew, ahead of the Southern regional performance centre crew with the four made up of New Zealand representatives in third.