Back-to-back gold for Jarvis

Bundaberg rower Sophie Jarvis defended her under-17 women’s double scull national title in Victoria at the weekend.

Ron Burgin

ROWING: It was a familiar position to be in for Sophie Jarvis — atop the podium at Nagambie’s Australian Rowing Championships for the under-17 double scull.

She was only 14, the youngest in the field, when she stroked to an amazing victory in Lake Barrington, Tasmania last year.

A year on and Jarvis has only improved, with her and partner Bronte Morris clearly the best of a very good bunch.

“I wasn’t too confident,” she said yesterday.

“We had never rowed together, but we came into the final and won by about six lengths.”

It could have been even better for the St Luke’s student, if it was not for an unlucky lane draw in the single scull final.

She qualified fastest for the final, but strong winds buffeted the course and Jarvis took the full brunt, while others closer to the bank streaked clear.

“The wind was hitting me pretty hard, and it was probably only a quarter of boat gap in the end,” she said.

“That hurt, but I can come back next year with something to improve on now.”

Daniel Brame returned to Bundaberg this week ranked ninth in Australia for the under-23 lightweight after a third in the B-final.

Rebecca Surmon did not compete.

Neither did Claire Chapman and Chris Bigg, who are both recovering from spinal injuries.

Nick Silcox, representing Commercial, picked up bronze in the men’s lightweight fours, while Emma McCarthy was third in the women’s quad scull and second in the Queen’s Cup women’s eight for Queensland.

New South Wales took out the blue riband King’s Cup in front of Victoria, but Victoria was good enough to be overall winners on points just in front of Queensland.

Meanwhile, Bundaberg schools are hitting the water at every opportunity to prepare for the Bundaberg Secondary School Head of the River.

Shalom has a 19-year stranglehold on the prize, but after an encouraging show last year, Bundaberg State High School will ensure the spoils are well-earned.

“We’ve only got a small team but we’ll be aiming for that percentage points trophy again and I think we can win that,” Jarvis said.