Rowing Report

Words by Olivia Ling ROWING MANAGER

The Rangi Ruru coaching team is immensely proud of the efforts of our 65-girl strong squad throughout the season. The highlight of the season came from what we thought would be the penultimate event, the South Island Secondary Schools’ Regatta. With two eights in every age group and category, the results saw us taking home Gold and Silver in the U15 and Novice eights, Gold in the U16 eight, Silver in the U17 eight and Bronze in the U18 eights. We were particularly proud of how our number two crews held their own against our competitor’s ‘B’ boats in all event classes.

The U18 pair event was an extremely competitive field this season with the final two crews finishing within a second of each other. We are very proud of Samantha Vance and Tessa Reid for claiming Gold in this event. The talent in the senior squad has also been highlighted with three of our athletes named by Rowing New Zealand on the junior trialist list; we would like to congratulate Kyla Otway, Samantha Vance and Tessa Reid on this incredible achievement. Although we do not know what this trial will look like at this time, we are pleased that the efforts of these girls have been recognised.

Under 16 Four

Under 17 8+ South Island Secondary School Championships

Our results from the South Island Secondary Schools’ Regatta culminated in our award of the Top Girls’ School and 3rd overall school, behind Christchurch Boys’ High School and Timaru Boys’ High. Our medal tally in the end was 13 medals: 4 Gold, 6 Silver and 3 Bronze. These are exceptional results as many of our crews were rowing in the age groups above to prepare them for the tight competition at Maadi Cup. These crews held their own in tough fields. Of special note would be our U16 eight taking Silver in the U17 event, and our U15 four claiming Bronze in the U17 four event. Naturally, both the squad and coaches were disappointed with the cancellation of Maadi Cup, however, everyone has taken these trying times in their stride. We are very proud of our girls who have consistently demonstrated resilience, perspective, and social responsibility throughout this disrupted season.

Next season we are excited to have Fiona Paterson take on the position of Head Coach with the support of Gary Hay. Fiona has coached at Rangi for many seasons and is very familiar with the culture, the girls and has always been a big asset to our team. Gary Hay, who was meant to join our team as Head Coach this season, is remaining at Lake Karapiro to see his crews through to the Olympic Games next year. However, we are fortunate enough to still have Gary involved with our team and he will be overseeing the programme for next season, as well as attending our camps with us. The combination of Fiona and Gary together makes us excited for the season ahead.

A HUGE THANK YOU to our Sponsors