Otago University Rowing Club athletes Natasha Bonham-Carter, Hazel Cunliffe, Penny Barnsdale, Hannah Duggan, Juliette Alm-Lequeux, Georgia Bewley, Ina Diwan and Michael Williams are heading to the national rowing championships, which will be held on Lake Karapiro next week.
The annual regatta alternates between Lake Karapiro and Lake Ruataniwha each year, with the lengthy trip north usually restricting the number of Otago rowers.
This year's championships, which start on Tuesday morning and wrap up tomorrow week, will see 805 crews competing across 72 events.
Heats and repechages will make up the first three days, while finals will be contested the final three days.
Bonham-Carter and Cunliffe will contest the club pair and club double.
They tasted success together in the club double at the South Island championships a fortnight ago, when they won gold.
While they combined with Bewley and Duggan to win gold in the women's club coxless quad at the same regatta, they have mixed things up next week.
They will team up with Duggan and Alm-Lequeux in the club coxless quad, before hitting the water with Bewley and Alm-Lequeux in the women's club four.
Barnsdale and Duggan, who finished seventh in the women's double final at the South Island championships, are entered in the lightweight double and senior double next week.
Alm-Lequeux, who did not compete at the South Island championships, will contest the under-20 single.
She won bronze in the women's single at the Canterbury championships last month.
After narrowly missing out on a medal in the women's double at the same regatta, Alm-Lequeux and Bewley will line up in the under-20 double next week.
Not including Southern RPC rowers, Diwan and Williams are the club's only men heading to the championships, and will contest the novice and club double.
The pair convincingly won the men's novice double at the South Island championships.
Coached by Matt Smaill, the eight Otago University rowers will leave for Lake Karapiro tomorrow morning.
Andrew Potter, Ollie Tyro, Alistair Bond, Fiona Bourke and Anna Watson-Taylor are also competing next week.
They are Otago University rowers but are representing Southern RPC.
The Oamaru Rowing Club and Dunstan Arm Rowing Club are also sending teams to the regatta.
Mark Taylor, Charlie Wallis, Jared Brenssell and James Scott, of Oamaru, who won the South Island men's coxless quad title a fortnight ago, will look to take national honours in the same event.
They are also entered in the under-22 quad and senior quad, and the under-19 coxed four with coxswain Jess Mulligan.
Sydney Telfer and Maysie Scott are entered in the club double, senior double and club pair, and will also go head to head in the club single.
The Dunstan Club, which accounted for 16 of Otago's 45 medals at the South Island championships, is sending seven rowers to Karapiro.
Kaea Anderson, Jas McIntosh, Emma Borland, Sophie Williamson and coxswain Sophie Smith, who won the women's novice coxed quad two weeks ago, will compete in the same event.
They will then split for the novice double, with Anderson and McIntosh going up against Borland and Williamson.
Sydney Cook and Macaela Turfus will also be in action, when they look to back up their gold in the women's under-19 double two weeks ago.
Coach Simon Smith said the Dunstan rowers were doing the trip on a "shoestring budget''.
They will leave Alexandra on Sunday morning by car, and will not arrive at the venue until the night before racing starts.
All the country's top rowers will be in action at the regatta, including Hamish Bond, Eric Murray, Mahe Drysdale and Emma Twigg.
