Harris, Manson claim dual gold
Recently crowned world champ Chris Harris is flourishing with a new-found confidence.
Harris claimed two golds at the New Zealand rowing championships at Lake Karapiro yesterday. He combined with Robbie Manson to win the premier men’s double sculls final for the Central Regional Performance Centre crew after Harris, Manson, Brook Robertson and Joe Wright earlier took out the premier men’s quad.
Harris won his first world championship gold in the double sculls with John Storey for New Zealand in the United States in September and admitted that had given him a significant boost.
‘‘After trying for so long, it was awesome to finally come away with the win,’’ Harris said of the gold in Florida.
‘‘It gives confidence to know you’re on the right track and just have to keep it going for the next couple of years leading into Tokyo [2020 Olympics].’’
Harris and Manson, who rowed in the double at the 2016 Rio Olympics, dictated terms in their final, heading off Southern RPC’s Cameron Crampton and Storey.
Earlier, the Central RPC crew captured the quad gold in an impressive five minutes 45.62.
They were a couple of seconds ahead of the Southern RPC quad that featured Harris’ world champs crewmate Storey, with Auckland RPC third.
Harris said he’d done a lot of summer training in the single scull but had re-formed his partnership with Storey over the past month ahead of the national trials, with that duo certain of selection for New Zealand’s World Cup campaign in Europe over winter.
Tom Murray is looking for a new crewmate in the men’s pair, but yesterday he helped one win his first red coat.
Murray and Phillip Wilson of Central RPC won the premier title, heading off Waikato RPC’s Anthony Allen and Shaun Kirkham by just over two seconds in six minutes 36.14 seconds, with Auckland RPC’s Stephen Jones and Mahe Drysdale taking bronze.
It was Wilson’s first premier national title – as it was for Robertson and Wright in the quad – while Murray is pleased with his form as he seeks a new NZ combination. He and Jamie Hunter won bronze at last year’s world champs but Hunter retired soon after.
‘‘It was cool – I’ve got the young guy Phil Wilson behind me, his first rec coat, so I was stoked to be able to lead him into that.
‘‘You could see as we crossed the line he was pretty stoked about that.
‘‘We had the double Olympic champion [Drysdale] pushing us towards the end there, and even though it’s not his event, it was still really cool to be able to do that to some of the more experienced guys.’’
Murray said he’s been working well with Michael Brake in training and was hopeful they can shine at the national trials and gain selection.
The premier women’s pair gold was won by Southern RPC’s Emma Dyke and Grace Prendergast in 7:16.05, with Central’s Kerri Gowler and Ella Greenslade a close second. Prendergast and Gowler won gold for New Zealand at last year’s world champs in the pair.
The premier women’s double sculls title went to Waikato RPC’s Georgia Perry and Brooke Donoghue.