St Petersburg State University, from Russia, emerged a 3-0 victor in its men’s eight rowing series against Otago which finished on Otago Harbour yesterday morning.
Entering the day with a 1-0 lead, St Petersburg State was made to work hard in the 5km race, before blitzing the host in the 250m sprint.
The visiting team got out a quarter-length lead in the first kilometre of the long race, before edging out to close to a length in the next kilometre.
Otago pulled back half a length through the middle, before the Russian crew had to be diverted to avoid hitting a pole.
In the final kilometre, Otago stuck close, but St Petersburg State had the stronger finish in the last 500m.
A big, powerful, experienced crew, the visiting team was always going make it a tough task for Otago.
However, knowing the calibre of the Russian crew, Otago University rowing club general manager Glen Sinclair was proud of the way his team competed.‘‘Our guys are such a young crew, five first years, two second years and a third year.
"So we’re really building and very, very proud of them.
"To lose at home is always pretty hard, but in that 5km race, I’m really proud of them. It was such an awesome race.
"They just did not let them go, and you could see how the Russians were — it was like the big guy trying to push away the little guy. ‘Just sod off, get out of there’, but our guys just kept on attacking.
"So it made for a good race and [I’m] very proud. Our guys just did not give up."
In the 250m race, the Russians powered out to a strong start to claim a comprehensive win.Sinclair said Russian crews were experts in those shorter races and they had entire regattas of 250m races, which was going to make it tough.
St Petersburg State team manager Maria Korobova was happy with how the trip had gone and said the team had enjoyed its stay.
The team, which arrived on Tuesday, would head back to Russia tomorrow.
While that may seem a long way to come for a short amount of time, Korobova said the team was used to travelling and got a lot out of the visit.
"It’s friendship, it’s more than rowing," she said.
"Especially for me, it’s not the first year I’ve brought a crew.
"You always have fun. Glen is my really good friend. We care about each other and every time our crews meet it’s just awesome."
The Otago team will now head to China for an international universities regatta to complete its season.
That invitation had come as a result of winning at the previous regatta it attended in China.
It flew out last night, taking four of the rowers who raced over the past two days, while four had decided to stay behind to concentrate on their studies.
That enabled the team to get more rowers some experience, something Sinclair said was a focus right now, as it built for the next two years.
