The largest Canterbury Champ ever was successfully run at the Meridian Rowing Centre over the weekend of 15-16th January. Competitor numbers totalled 1,219 and races were on a tight 4 minute schedule using all ten lanes of our course.
Impeccable weather on Saturday meant for some extremely competitive racing across all grades in the heats and a good speed test for crews post summer holidays. Sunday morning started with fog, which rolled across the start zone just prior to the start of the first race for the day. Crews competing in the GU178+ kept themselves, boat holders, photographers and the starters thoroughly entertained with a few pre-race antics for the 1.5hr delay in the schedule. The lake cleared to present another hot day with excellent water for the competitors.
The day wrapped up with the unscheduled Open Mixed 8’s races which were an absolute highlight for spectators. An impressive show was put forward by the St Andrews Coaching Team who showed some blistering speed over the 500m course to take out their race.
A huge thank you to the Volunteers, Gate Staff and Officials who had a very busy weekend, and to the many spectators who came to support the event or watched it via the livestream. Stay tuned, only four days until SI Champs!