Having just claimed her second gold of the regatta, on the final day of racing — winning the women’s double scull title with Justine Hobbs for Waikato — Egnot-Johnson happily reflected on the simple pleasures of getting out on the water and competing.
"Honestly, it’s been so nice to race again.
"It has been a pretty tough season, pretty dragged out, having no racing up in Cambridge," she said.
Egnot-Johnson and Hobbs won their premier double final in 7min 20.88sec by almost six seconds from Becky Tuke and Shannon Cox, of Canterbury, with Petone’s Mackenzie Tuffin and Ella Livingston missing silver by just 0.17sec.
For Egnot-Johnson, that reversed the result of the premier single, when Cox prevailed by about 3sec.
However, Cox had the last laugh yesterday as the regatta wound down, backing up to win her senior single scull convincingly in 7:55.42 holding off a double Tauranga Girls’ attack from Madeleine Parker (8:05.64) and Emma Averill (8:09.44).
Egnot-Johnson finished the regatta with a pair of golds to match two silvers and was pretty happy.
"It is quite nice to finish with your goals and walk away happy and proud.
"It’s all done, so now it’s nap time," she laughed.
The former New Zealand junior and under 21 representative — as she puts it way back "BC", before Covid — still has more goals but admitted she has had to work through issues battling fatigue.
"So, this season has been about trying to manage my health."
And she is still doing some coaching and casual sailing in Auckland, according to her daughter.
Egnot-Johnson is studying environmental science through Massey but is eyeing future rowing challenges.
There was southern success in the women’s club single where Timaru’s Elsie Taylor won in 8:06.98 from West End’s Holly Chaafe in 8:10.09.
Avon took the honours in the women’s senior coxless pair, where Phoebe Collier and Harriet Williams just caught Nelson duo Macy Kappely and Nicole Campbell near the line to win in 7:34.77.
Nelson in turn held off North Shore’s Daisy Forsyth and Jan Schellekens by less than a second.
The men’s premier coxless pair was another victory to Avon, the largest club at the regatta, with Flynn Watson and Will Gilbert comfortably first in a field of four, in 6:48.96.
And in the final major race of the regatta, the women’s premier coxless pair, the spoils went to Waikato, through Holly Mills and Isabel Watson.
They won by almost four seconds from Nelson’s Nicole Campbell and Macy Kappely.
Dunstan Arm Rowing Club picked up bronze in the women’s coxless four, silver in the men’s club coxless quad and gold in the women’s intermediate coxed quad.
Otago Rowing Club’s Eleanor Baldi won gold in the women’s intermediate single sculls, while Oamaru Rowing Club got bronze in the men’s novice coxed four and silver in the women’s novice coxed eight.
Columba took silver in the women’s novice coxed quadruple sculls.
