Kings reign supreme

The NSW men’s eight team won its fifth straight Kings’ Cup over the weekend at the 2012 Australian Rowing Championship, extending the team’s streak to five straight victories.

NSWIS athletes Nick Hudson, Sam Loch, Francis Hegerty, James Chapman, Nicholas Purnell, Matthew Ryan, Fergus Pragnell and Dan Noonan made up the bulk of the crew, with Toby Lister as coxswain.

Victoria was leading at the 500m mark before a fightback from NSW saw them take the lead at 1000m and never looked back. The team powered to victory in 5:49.23, a length clear of Victoria in second and South Australia third.

The Kings’ Cup victory was complemented by several other strong results at the championships, including:
- Loch and Pragnell combining for gold in the men’s coxed pair, with Ryan winning silver
- Noonan winning gold in the men’s quad scull
- Tess Gerrand triumphing in the women’s double scull and women’s coxless four, as well as winning bronze in the women’s coxless pair
- Brooke Pratley securing victory in the women’s quad scull
- Rod Chisholm winning bronze in the men’s double scull
- Dominic Grimm finishing with silver and bronze in the men’s quad scull and coxed four, respectively.