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NZ Trans-Tasman Rowing team asserting dominance on their Aussie rivals
Racing on the Brisbane River, in the land of the outback and with the lyrics of 'Untouched' by the Veronicas echoing in the distance, the New Zealand Trans-Tasman Universities Rowing team kicked off their racing this past week.
The team fared well against the Aussie Universities, taking out seven of the eight races, with the boys taking the win in all four of their races.
The racing schedule across the week began on Tuesday where both the Boys and Girls eights took a hit out on their two 1km races each. Subsequently, Wednesday followed with the 2km racing and Friday capped off the week with the 5km river race.
Arriving in Brisbane was like arriving into a New Zealand summer. A strange contrast to several of the Dunedin athletes who'd been rowing in snow and wearing puffer jackets just a few weeks earlier.
For many in the team, it was their international racing debut. This added to the interesting dichotomy of older and younger students, and several others who'd taken big breaks from rowing to only recently return.
The Women's eight set the standard early in the piece, succeeding in both of their 1km races to claim an early lead within the first 100 meters of both. They finished just shy of 3 minutes in both races and claimed a boat length on the Australian crew.
Despite this early confidence, they finished their 2km drag race in a time 0.6 seconds slower than the crew they'd beaten twice the day beforehand.
Charlie Barclay, stroke seat of the Women's eight, reflects on this. "I think a lot of nerves I feel at the beginning of a race come from fear of not getting the outcome I want."
"It's impossible not to feel frustrated when you put in such effort, and it amounts to a loss and such a close one at that."
Charlie Barclay (Stroke seat) and her eight of Tyler Stewart, Isabelle Welch, Senga Hickson, Sienna Godfrey-Chatterton, Ava Stevens, Hannah Wylie, Savannah Freeman (B) and Timmy Heritage (Coxswain). PHOTO: SHARRON BENNETT PHOTOGRAPHY.
The 5km race was a different story. The Kiwi girls were able to get out quick and Charlie talks about a special moment from the race in the 5km; "My highlight was 1km into the 5km when we saw that Australian eight appear behind us, and it gave us so much fuel to keep going"
"I loved that call - the dirty water call, and that's why I race. It's that comradery and I feel like that almost sums up the nature of the campaign as well, it's a little bit gritty".
This is a credit to university rowing in New Zealand, the pressure is different. As Charlie put; "It's the cool thing about a university campaign is that you're a university student first and then you're an athlete [second]".
The Women's eight, side by side with their Trans-Tasman opponents in the 2km racing. PHOTO: SHARRON BENNETT PHOTOGRAPHY.
The Men's eight followed these margins and some, despite their early pre-race jitters. While appearing down from the start, they managed to claw back clear water by the end of the first 1km in a time of 2 minutes and 39 seconds.
George Mackintosh, Men's eight coxswain, comments on this saying, "we were pretty surprised about how quick the Aussie's were with their start, first 1km race Aussie took about half a length up on us and I kinda thought it'd be a pretty long week of racing if the Aussie's were this quick."
George Mackintosh and his eight of Freddie Eadie (S), Gane Harbutt, Lawrence Birch, Sam Clelland, Josh Clark, Charlie Mackintosh, James Tavendale and Luke Sanders (B), celebrating the end of their 5km race in 21 second lead. PHOTO: SHARRON BENNETT PHOTOGRAPHY.
This success equated to an early confidence boost in the regatta and the remainder of the racing. The boys established their dominance in the 2km finishing 5 seconds earlier than the Australians in a time of 5.45.7.
Talking to George, he reviewed his rowing career and experiences at school. Saying, "I found it pretty funny how a couple years out of school I was able to put what I learnt on the river into the 5km." The boys concluded their racing with the 5km and a final victory against the Aussie squad.
George continued to highlight the growth in his university's rowing program. "When I look at Lincoln rowing, it's growing quite a bit, and I think it's pretty cool to have two people from Lincoln here" and "considering how small of a squad we are, we punch above our weight."
This year's team comprised students from various years of university degrees. As well as Lincoln, students from Otago, Canterbury, Victoria and Auckland Universities were represented.
George Mackintosh and Freddie Eadie, Lincoln University students in this year's Trans-Tasman University Rowing team. PHOTO: SHARRON BENNETT PHOTOGRAPHY.
The regatta began back in 1998. Originally it was Men's and Women's eights, a men's lightweight four and a women's lightweight quad. Glen Sinclair, President of University Rowing in New Zealand, attests the regatta to having "made for a lot of great friendships and even a couple of NZ Aussie marriages!"
It's also largely volunteer driven, from selectors, managers and coaches. A special shoutout to this year's team of Ellen Kirkwood, Sarah Lindley, Lawson Morris-Whyte and Tim Osmers.
And with that, the 2025 Trans-Tasman regatta comes to a close, producing a successful tour in the Brisbane backyards.
Timmy Heritage
Timmy Heritage is a freelance writer and student out of the University of Canterbury, studying a Bachelor of Communications, with 10 years of rowing experience.
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- Home
- /
- University Rowing
- /
- NZ Trans-Tasman Rowing...
NZ Trans-Tasman Rowing team asserting dominance on their Aussie rivals
Racing on the Brisbane River, in the land of the outback and with the lyrics of 'Untouched' by the Veronicas echoing in the distance, the New Zealand Trans-Tasman Universities Rowing team kicked off their racing this past week.
The team fared well against the Aussie Universities, taking out seven of the eight races, with the boys taking the win in all four of their races.
The racing schedule across the week began on Tuesday where both the Boys and Girls eights took a hit out on their two 1km races each. Subsequently, Wednesday followed with the 2km racing and Friday capped off the week with the 5km river race.
Arriving in Brisbane was like arriving into a New Zealand summer. A strange contrast to several of the Dunedin athletes who'd been rowing in snow and wearing puffer jackets just a few weeks earlier.
For many in the team, it was their international racing debut. This added to the interesting dichotomy of older and younger students, and several others who'd taken big breaks from rowing to only recently return.
The Women's eight set the standard early in the piece, succeeding in both of their 1km races to claim an early lead within the first 100 meters of both. They finished just shy of 3 minutes in both races and claimed a boat length on the Australian crew.
Despite this early confidence, they finished their 2km drag race in a time 0.6 seconds slower than the crew they'd beaten twice the day beforehand.
Charlie Barclay, stroke seat of the Women's eight, reflects on this. "I think a lot of nerves I feel at the beginning of a race come from fear of not getting the outcome I want."
"It's impossible not to feel frustrated when you put in such effort, and it amounts to a loss and such a close one at that."
Charlie Barclay (Stroke seat) and her eight of Tyler Stewart, Isabelle Welch, Senga Hickson, Sienna Godfrey-Chatterton, Ava Stevens, Hannah Wylie, Savannah Freeman (B) and Timmy Heritage (Coxswain). PHOTO: SHARRON BENNETT PHOTOGRAPHY.
The 5km race was a different story. The Kiwi girls were able to get out quick and Charlie talks about a special moment from the race in the 5km; "My highlight was 1km into the 5km when we saw that Australian eight appear behind us, and it gave us so much fuel to keep going"
"I loved that call - the dirty water call, and that's why I race. It's that comradery and I feel like that almost sums up the nature of the campaign as well, it's a little bit gritty".
This is a credit to university rowing in New Zealand, the pressure is different. As Charlie put; "It's the cool thing about a university campaign is that you're a university student first and then you're an athlete [second]".
The Women's eight, side by side with their Trans-Tasman opponents in the 2km racing. PHOTO: SHARRON BENNETT PHOTOGRAPHY.
The Men's eight followed these margins and some, despite their early pre-race jitters. While appearing down from the start, they managed to claw back clear water by the end of the first 1km in a time of 2 minutes and 39 seconds.
George Mackintosh, Men's eight coxswain, comments on this saying, "we were pretty surprised about how quick the Aussie's were with their start, first 1km race Aussie took about half a length up on us and I kinda thought it'd be a pretty long week of racing if the Aussie's were this quick."
George Mackintosh and his eight of Freddie Eadie (S), Gane Harbutt, Lawrence Birch, Sam Clelland, Josh Clark, Charlie Mackintosh, James Tavendale and Luke Sanders (B), celebrating the end of their 5km race in 21 second lead. PHOTO: SHARRON BENNETT PHOTOGRAPHY.
This success equated to an early confidence boost in the regatta and the remainder of the racing. The boys established their dominance in the 2km finishing 5 seconds earlier than the Australians in a time of 5.45.7.
Talking to George, he reviewed his rowing career and experiences at school. Saying, "I found it pretty funny how a couple years out of school I was able to put what I learnt on the river into the 5km." The boys concluded their racing with the 5km and a final victory against the Aussie squad.
George continued to highlight the growth in his university's rowing program. "When I look at Lincoln rowing, it's growing quite a bit, and I think it's pretty cool to have two people from Lincoln here" and "considering how small of a squad we are, we punch above our weight."
This year's team comprised students from various years of university degrees. As well as Lincoln, students from Otago, Canterbury, Victoria and Auckland Universities were represented.
George Mackintosh and Freddie Eadie, Lincoln University students in this year's Trans-Tasman University Rowing team. PHOTO: SHARRON BENNETT PHOTOGRAPHY.
The regatta began back in 1998. Originally it was Men's and Women's eights, a men's lightweight four and a women's lightweight quad. Glen Sinclair, President of University Rowing in New Zealand, attests the regatta to having "made for a lot of great friendships and even a couple of NZ Aussie marriages!"
It's also largely volunteer driven, from selectors, managers and coaches. A special shoutout to this year's team of Ellen Kirkwood, Sarah Lindley, Lawson Morris-Whyte and Tim Osmers.
And with that, the 2025 Trans-Tasman regatta comes to a close, producing a successful tour in the Brisbane backyards.
Timmy Heritage
Timmy Heritage is a freelance writer and student out of the University of Canterbury, studying a Bachelor of Communications, with 10 years of rowing experience.
