Robbie Manson has successfully defended his single sculls title at the National Rowing Champs on Lake Karapiro, easily beating double olympic champion Mahe Drysdale who finished fifth after suffering a sore neck.
Rower Robbie Manson. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
In the eagerly awaited battle for the Sir Bernard Freyburg Cup, Manson was a class apart comfortably adding to the men's premier double sculls and men's premier quad sculls crown snared yesterday to defeat a top-quality field in 7:19.48.
World double sculls champion John Storey (Southern RPC) grabbed silver in 7:22.89 to repel a spirited challenge from Ireland's world lightweight single sculls champion Paul O'Donovan, who finished just over a second behind Storey.
The official bronze - in lieu of O'Donovan's overseas nationality - went to World Under-23 quadruple sculls champion Jordan Parry (Waikato RPC), who produced an accomplished performance in 7:25.29.
Eight-time former national single sculls champion Mahe Drysdale, hampered by a neck injury, finished a distant fifth in 7:45.30 - more than 25 seconds adrift of Manson.
Both the New Zealand champion Manson and two-time Olympic champion, Drysdale, will compete on the World Cup circuit later this year to determine who will represent New Zealand in the men's single sculls at the World Championships in Plovdiv in September.
Manson was very satisfied with his efforts across the regatta with the only minor exception from an otherwise wonderful regatta was when his Central RPC crew had to settle for silver in the men's premier eight final behind Waikato RPC, who romped to a fifth successive national title in the blue riband event.
"I'm pleased to win three golds and a silver at this regatta," Manson said.
"I've got three golds now and that was my goal for this regatta. This summer is going really well. I've probably done the least amount of training I've done over a summer, but I'm still going fast on the water. There are still areas to improve on between now and the end of the World Cup and we'll get trials out of the way and get back into it."
-RNZ
