PHOTO Julia Edward rowing in Lightweight Women’s Single Scull

Edwards races to the top….

Rotorua rowing hit a high today, with Julia Edward winning another yellow coat, a reward for a Gold medal in the Premier Women’s Single Sculls event, at the 2012 New Zealand Rowing Championships, held on Lake Karapiro this week.

Julia ,a sculler, uses 2 oars, as opposed to a rower who uses one. She is a ‘lightweight’ and must always remain beneath 57 kilos. It was a hard fought race and Edward deserved her win, taking first place from her friend and former racing partner Lucy Strack, in the last 50m.

Edward also took the Bronze in the Women’s Premier Double Scull event this afternoon, after a photo finish.

To ‘medal’ in a heavyweight event, is difficult for a lightweight rower, as their weight is usually proportionate to their body shape and theoretically they will have a shorter ‘reach’ than a heavyweight woman sculler.

The heavyweight rowers have no weight limits and are generally proportionately taller.

So our Julia is ‘performing well above her weight’, literally. Edward was the only ‘lightweight’ in the medals.

Julia is at least half a head shorter than her doubles partner; Genevieve Armstrong , who is 180 cm tall and weighs 68kilos.

Julia tips the scales at around 51kilos and is near 167.5cms tall. The event winners; Anna Reymer (stroke) and Fiona Paterson, who row for the Central Regional Performance Centre were taller too. Reymer is 174cm tall and weighs in at 71kilos and Paterson is 182cm tall and weighs 81kilo.