Captains Report: North Island Club Champs

Following a successful summer camp, our Senior and Junior squads travelled down to Karāpiro for their first regatta of the year, the North Island Rowing Club Championships.

Saturday’s first day of racing was characterised by persistent sun and incredibly hot temperatures on the lake as heats went underway. Many of our crews rowed well making several finals. A notable race was the men's intermediate coxed eight of Toby Foster, Ollie Burton, Toby Smith, Taylor Dodds, Charlie Tallon, Leo Bacchus, Leon Beordman-Hill, and Lucas Forsyth coxed by Ollie Moy who made the first A final of the day. Later in the afternoon, Toby F Ollie B, Toby S, and Taylor coxed by Ashlee Bourke won the heat of their Mens Intermediate Four and headed straight for the A final. 

The weather took a turn on Sunday with overcast and rainy conditions as the rest of the heats and the start of the finals took place. The women’s club double of Elizabeth McKendry and Nia Shipkov placed 4th in the B final amongst a fast-moving field. Shortly after the Men's “2nd” Intermediate coxed quad sculls of John An, Ollie Moy, Andy Shi, and Daniel Feng coxed by George Cockayne rowed a great race placing 4th in the B final.  The Club’s penultimate race of the day saw the women's intermediate double of Chloe Pezaro and Galeyt Alexander win their final.  To bring the day to an end, the Men’s Club Coxed four of Ben Mansell, George Layburn, Bill An, and Caleb Willman-Childs coxed by Maia Stebbings worked through the choppy water to place first in the B final.

The final day of the regatta began bright and early when the Women's Senior Double of Nia Shipkov and Neave McConnachie placed 5th in the B final, an amazing result as many of their competitors were out of school and rowing at the senior level.  The day also saw success for Takapuna in eights. The Men’s intermediate coxed eight placed 5th in the A final, followed by the Women's Intermediate coxed octuple sculls which placed 5th in the B final. The men’s open coxed eight then placed 4th in the A final, immediately followed by the women’s open coxed eight who placed 5th in their A final.

Next up were the men’s intermediate doubles. Charlie Bourke and Erik Brownlow raced hard to a 2nd place in the D final followed by Leo Bacchus and Charlie Tallon who a race later placed 4th in the C final. Charlie and Erik then partnered up with Thomas Bloom and Lachie Anderson in the Senior coxless quad where they placed 5th in their A final. Later in the afternoon, Matthew Molony would swap for Lachie and the crew coxed by Maia Stebbings would place 2nd in the B final of the Men's Club Quad

Following the success of the Men's Intermediate coxed four in their heat, the crew of Toby F, Ollie B, Toby S, and Taylor coxed by Ashlee raced hard to a 7th in the A final.  Our junior girls of Milla Mckendry, Skye Grice-Douglas, Stella Bradley and Farrah Grice-Douglas coxed by George Cockayne placed 2nd in the B final of the Women’s “2nd” Intermediate Quad. The penultimate race was the women's club single sculls where Lizzie Mckendry placed 6th in her C final. 

Finally, to end the day TGSRC fielded two Octis in the B final of the Men's intermediate coxed octuple sculls. In an exhilarating and action-packed race, our crews came 1st and 2nd! The crew of Lachie Anderson, Leon-Boardman-Hill, Liam Crampsie, Connor Burton, Timer Hirschauge, Oliver Service, Archer Grey, and George Glass coxed by Jasper van Tonder placed 1st. Closely behind the crew of Nam-Anh Nguyen, Ollie Moy, Aidan Dibble, Andy Shi, Nathan Grobbelaar, John An, Sean Crampsie, and Daniel Feng coxed by Ashlee Bourke placed second. 

Overall our crews made 5 A finals, 9 B finals, 2 C finals and 2 D finals. This is incredibly impressive, especially seeing as our crews competed in club categories (by experience rowing) rather than age group. 

A special thanks to Sam, Jamie, Nabeel, Kevin, Megan, Zoe and Kira for their coaching all weekend and to all the parent helpers for their help. It was great as captains to see our club culture on display with everyone helping out, especially during boat loading and also supporting each other by the waterfront.