Flying foursome
HUON rower Sarah Hawe has had a senior Australian debut to remember after helping the women’s four to a breakthrough gold medal on the final day of the World Rowing Cup 2.
The International Olympic Committee only announced last week the boat class would be raced at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, and Australia made an early statement it could be a serious contender.
Hawe, teaming with Olympians Molly Goodman and Lucy Stephan and fellow debutant Katrina Werry, head- ed into the final confident after clocking the fastest time in the test event two days earlier. Drawn in lane four, Austra- lia faced stiff competition from a pair of American crews, as well as entries from Ukraine, China and hometown favourites Poland.
Australia sat back in third as the Poles and the USA shot to the lead, however the green and gold machine paced their assault on the field as they crossed the halfway mark.
Goodman upped the pace and the Australians worked their way through to come into the lead, upping the rate to 40 strokes a minute as they crossed the line to win the race and set a new World Cup best time of six minutes and 22 seconds.
“It was a good race. We really stuck to our race plan. We had a good first 1000 metres and in the last 500 metres I was just thinking to not muck it up,” Stephan said. “I’m really looking forward to how we progress this season.”
In a great day for Hawe, she then backed up with Goodman in the women’s pair to snare a bronze medal.
Racing just a few hours after their gold medal performance, the duo took on stiff competition from in-form New Zealand combination Grace Prendergast and Kerri Gowler as well as the USA’s Megan Kalmoe and Tracey Eisser.
“Sarah and I were pretty tired coming into this race, having also raced in the four a couple of hours before,” Goodman said.
“The four is our main boat. We haven’t tried the pair so much, so we are very happy about this medal.
“We will race next in Lucerne and hopefully we’ll then be selected in the four for the world championships later this year.”
Australia finished its first World Rowing Cup event of the year with five medals, including a second gold in the men’s fours, to sit third on the regatta medal table.