The New Zealand Community Trust has granted $15,000 to the Otago University Rowing Club for a new top-level racing boat.
The club has been raising funds to buy a New Zealand-made carbon-fibre racing shell. The boat is expected to serve for about 20 years as a racing craft and a further 10 years as a beginner training boat.
Club manager Glen Sinclair said buying a new rowing boat was a huge ask for a student-run club, so support from the community trust was invaluable.
The club has now raised all of the $75,000 needed to order the boat, which will take about take about eight weeks to build.
In the meantime, the club is competing in three university regattas in China.
The development women's team took part in the Shenyang International Open regatta last weekend.
"The crew was placed first and third in the women’s open quads and placed second in the mixed eight 1000m, as there was no women’s only eights, and second in the 4.5km mixed eight by only 1.4sec, behind Malaysia," Sinclair said.
The men's senior eight team is set to compete this weekend in the Nanjing International Universities Rowing Open on the Outer Qinhuai River and the men's development eight squad will race in the Chengdu Open Regatta on October 1 and 2.
The boat will be named after Sir Murray Brennan, an alumnus and world-renowned surgeon who has long supported the university and the club.
Sir Murray will visit the rowing club later in the month to have lunch with some of the rowing athletes he has supported through scholarships.
