The crew of James Chapman, Samuel Loch, Nicholas Hudson, Dominic Grimm, Nick Purnell, Matthew Ryan, Fergus Pragnell, Daniel Noonan and cox Toby Lister never faltered in their determination to secure the Kings Cup for the third consecutive year.
For Chapman this is a perfect end to a great comeback after taking a year off following the Beijing Olympics. As he made his way up from the pontoon he was glowing with pride, a feeling that was clearly emanating throughout his crew.
“After a few years we’ve set up this culture and camaraderie. It’s a great feeling to be part of this campaign.”
“We started so well and just kept driving away and driving away. Once you start to get a little bit of a lead you get a lot of confidence out of that.”
With a phenomenal middle 1000, the New South Welsh men charged down the course as the grandstand erupted with excitement.
Victoria rose to the challenge and pushed them through the first 500. With just 0.64 of a second separating the Champion laden crews the Victorian's were unable to keep a firm grip on as Lister demanded and received an incredible lift leading up to the half way mark.
As they tore across the finish line, the crew in light blue could hardly control their excitement, clocking a time of 5:27.95.
Victoria Unstoppable in Queens Cup
Victoria has absolutely smashed it again in the 2010 Queens Cup at this years Interstate regatta.
With James Tomkins cheering them on from the grandstand, the crew of Joanna Gray, Robyn Selby Smith, Kim Crow, Sophie Robson, Pauline Frasca, Jessica Hill, Emily Martin and Phoebe Stanley were guided down the course by one of Australia’s strongest coxswains, Lizzie Patrick.
With Stanley in stroke, the Victorians had a flawless race, comfortably leading the field to take home ‘Bertha’, the Queens Cup, for the 6th consecutive year.
For Martin this is her 10th Queens Cup race and incredibly her 8th Queens Cup win.
“Every time it’s still just as exciting and it feels great to put on the big white ‘V’ and row for Victoria.“
Coming out of the blocks, Queensland caught the Victorians off guard and attempted to take charge however they were unable to hold them off. As they crossed over the 1000m mark, Victoria was steadily increasing the gap with the intention of having a “solid build to the line.”
The crew, coached by David Colvin and Bill Tait, belted across the line with a 7.15 second lead on the field to an outburst of deafening cheers from the sidelines.
Check out the rest of the 2010 Australian Rowing Championships and Interstate Regatta coverage.