After 4 weeks of dedicated training, crews competing in the 10^th Annual Leichhardt Rowing Club Corporate Challenge we eager and ready for racing. After some poor weather in the lead up to Regatta day, we were fortunate that Sunday promised perfect conditions for racing.

Crews entered in the following divisions,

Finance and Accounting:

 PricewaterhouseCoopers, Macquarie Bank, Westpac,

Lawyers

Clayton Utz, Sparke Helmore, Blake Dawson Waldron

Construction and Property

Abigroup, Leighton Contractors, Lipmans, St Hilliers and TIDC

General Industry

Pymble Ladies College, Berlei

The day got off to a good start in perfect rowing conditions. A few late arriving competitors were tracked down and race starts were not delayed despite a few anxious moments for some competitors. Excuses for late arrival ranged from a faulty GPS getting the competitor lost to a group discovering that Mittagong is not actually close to Penrith at all.  This side track led to a protest being lodged against Leightons and Abigroup crews for poor sign posting at the Light Horse Interchange on the M7 leading to the M4.

Racing is the Heats and Semi Finals was very close with a few crews showing early some early class. Both Sparke Helmore and PwC crews progressed undefeated to the finals.

The Finals brought some exciting racing and very close finishes.

The Finance and Accounting Final saw the in form PwC take on very polished crews from Macquarie and Westpac. The Westpac 1 crew was strengthened by the inclusion of elite rower Mathieu Le Belenger, a recent member of the French National Rowing Team. Despite the array of Westpac talent, PwC held their early form to take the final in a close finish.

The General Industry Cup was competed between a line up of Pymble rowers and parents (living past glories from their school days) and the Berlie – Beat The Bounce crew.  Berlie competed this year for the first time with an all women crew who were all new to rowing. Despite losing the final to Pymble, Beat The Bounce entered into the spirit of competition and team bonding with a very vocal cheer squad.

The Lawyers Cup is always a very closely contested affair. All 3 competing firms have been winners of this prestigious event. Sparke Helmore was clearly the crew to beat – last years Championship winner and unbeaten leading into the finals. They also included a strong line up of talent with Elite Representatives Miranda Bennett and Dominic Bressan.  A very close finish however had the Blake Dawson Waldron crew hitting peak form at the right time to edge out the Sparke Helmore crew and win this years event.

The Construction industry cup saw a large number of competitors with crews divided into an A and B final based on positions in the lead up races. Intense rivalry built between the companies and also between different crews from the same company. The Abigroup 1 crew had several returns from the 2005 winning crew and performed consistently through the Heats. The Abigroup 2 crew, stroked by Olympic Champion James Stewart had varied performances in the Heats but were always a threat. Through the Heats, little separated all crews to provide a pre race favourite. The finish of the Final provided the closest race of the day with 4 crews separated by less than 5m on the line. After a photo finish, the Final was awarded to the Abigroup 2 crew (who managed to hold on to the lead despite the rower in the 3 seat being left in the water near the start) in an excellent display of team work. 

The penultimate event, the LRC Championship Plate was again a very close event with the Macquarie Bank crew finishing strongly to come from behind to win.

The prestige event of the day – the LRC Championship Cup is contested between the division winners. Pricewaterhouse Coopers continued their consistent form for the day to become the 2006 LRC Corporate Champions in a convincing win leading from the early stages of the race.