‘Perfect crowd’ riverside for rowing battle
Grantham Street’s hillside is dotted with doe-eyed children clutching hot chips, high school rowing teams wearing their colours and wintry couples wrapped up in beanies and jackets as the last of winter’s chill puffs over the river.
For the 13th Gallagher Great Race, hundreds of punters scaled the Waikato River’s bank yesterday to see the fit rowers battle on the water.
Two-year-old Katie Barr, decked out in pink, had a prime viewing spot by the finish line with her sister Lizzie, 4, and mum and dad, Kirstie and Malcolm.
The girls had been cheering on Waikato from their lounge for weeks as teams practised on the river, which runs past their house.
With a shy grin, Lizzie said she wanted to row for ‘‘Sac-wed Heart’’
Waikato Mens coxswain Caleb Shepherd gets thrown in to the river after his team won the men’s race. when she grew older.
The family had been down to the corporate and schools race on Saturday, when the bank was much quieter, Kirstie Barr said.
David Searle, who’s better known for his homemade ‘Peace’ banner which he parades throughout Hamilton, gripped his flask and sandwiches on the hillside. For him, the Gallagher Great Race evoked memories of doing waka ama on the Waikato River.
‘‘I know what it’s like on the water, I know what it’s like to race,’’ he said.
Despite whacking a tree on the way down, Washington University’s women’s crew wowed the crowd with a nail-biting victory over Waikato.
The men’s race attracted gasps from the crowd when Waikato men’s rower Richard Power was tipped out under the first bridge, following a clash with oars from the Harvard boat.
After the umpires ruled a restart, Power climbed back in and, with a thumbs-up salute, was back in action. Waikato pulled off a comfortable win.
A sobering reminder came from commentators when the crowd were told the Waikato men wore black armbands during their race in memory of former Boy’s High student Andrew Healey, who was killed in a car accident this year.
Police described Sunday’s punters as a ‘‘perfect crowd’’.
Senior Sergeant Andrew O’Reilly, who’s also an umpire for Rowing New Zealand, said rowers were typically a well behaved bunch.
‘‘A lot of these guys are New Zealand reps and they are still right on the hunt for that.’’
Rowers were to head to craft brewery Good George in Frankton after the race to quench thirsty throats and celebrate or commiserate their respected placings.
For full competition results see page 24.