Rower qualifies for Trans-Tasman regatta

WENDOUREE-Ballarat Rowing Club athlete Lucy Richardson has made the Under 21 Australian Rowing Team ahead of the Trans Tasman Regatta with New Zealand in Canberra.

Her gold medal result in the under-21 women’s pair final at the 2024 Australian Rowing Championships qualified her for the team, alongside some recent two- and five-kilometre ergometer test scores.

Richardson’s nationals crew partner Georgia Montague from the University of Queensland Boat Club also qualified, while WBRC coach Jamie McDonald is set to coach the U21 women’s sweep squad.

Representing Australia last year, Richardson won bronze alongside fellow Ballarat athlete Katie Jackson at the Under 19 World Rowing Championships in France.

“It’s very exciting to make the team,” she said. “It doesn’t get old.

“It’s a different type of regatta and excitement compared to juniors because we’re staying locally as opposed to going to Paris.

“But we’ve had to work just as hard to get there, or even more, because as we get older the standard and intensity naturally lifts anyway.

“I’ll be racing in an eight and a four over the first weekend of June.”

The team will arrive in the Australian Capital Territory on 25 May for a pre-regatta training camp.

“It will be interesting because we’ve all been training in our home clubs, so we haven’t been in the four or the eight to train all together yet,” Richardson said.

“At the start of the week we’ll be jumping into both boats to get them sorted as quickly as we can and try to link up together to see how fast we can go by the end of the week.

“The other three girls in the four are from Brisbane, so they’ve been rowing together, and in the eight there’s other girls from Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and Tasmania.”

Richardson said the New Zealanders are always strong competition for the Aussies.

“The Australian team had a clean sweep in all the events last year, but there’s no guarantee we can back it up again,” she said.

“It was an exceptional year, so we have to bring our A game; the Kiwis are no slouches.”

Also on the under-21 men’s sweep team is former St Patrick’s College student, Tom Foley.