2019 Aon Maadi Cup - Day Five
The 2019 Aon Maadi Cup (New Zealand Secondary School Championships) is being hosted by Karapiro Rowing Inc. at Lake Karapiro, Cambridge from 25 - 30 March, with Sunday 31 March morning reserved as a spare day in case of bad weather.
Run by the NZSSRA and Rowing NZ, the Aon Maadi Cup is the national championships for school rowing. Being New Zealand's largest rowing regatta, it's the most prestigious event on the school rowing calendar with six days of racing.
Amongst reasonably strong cross-winds softening in the afternoon, A and B finals for 26 events were raced from 8.23am.
Live results from all races today can be found at rowit.nz, as well as a full event schedule and entries.
The boy’s U17 single scull was the first race of the day, with Scott Shackleton of Christchurch Boys’ High School taking gold. Coached by Tom Clyma and Logan Keys, Schakleton takes home not only a gold medal but also a Laszlo single for his school’s rowing programme from Aon. Takapuna Grammar School’s Evan Williams took silver, and Samuel Wield, also of Christchurch Boys’ High School, took bronze.
In the girl’s U17 single scull Sharika Mirfin, coached by Jack Allan and of Southland Girls’ High School also takes home a gold medal and a Laszlo single from Aon, after finishing four seconds ahead of Holly Chaafe of Mt Albert Grammar School in second. Parekura Kellow of Wentworth College took bronze.
Beginning in 2018, Aon’s Maadi Cup Legacy initiative provides the school of both the boy’s and girl’s U17 single scull with a new Laszlo skiff. Russell Bailey of Aon commented today after the presentation of both boats, “Once again we’re incredibly proud to mark the achievements of today’s winners in the boy’s and girl’s U17 single scull category by presenting each of their schools with a new Laszlo skiff. Scott and Shakira both showed incredible determination through this week’s racing and we are grateful for the opportunity to become more involved with their school’s programmes. We were also delighted to see last year’s winning boats throughout this week’s regatta, and are eagerly looking forward to working with more schools in future years.’’
Won by St Peter’s School (Cambridge) in 2018, the Dawn Cup was donated by Noel Lynch at a Maadi regatta held on the Wairoa River in 1980, and the cup’s name is a tribute to its first race where due to darkness, finals were scheduled for a Sunday morning at 6.30am. Originally won by Queen Charlotte College, Rangi Ruru Girls’ School have gone on to win the cup 15 times in the girl’s U18 coxed four. Today’s final included two Waikato Diocesan School for Girls crews, Christchurch Girls’ High School, Rangi Ruru Girls’ School, Epsom Girls’ Grammar, Epsom Girls Grammar 2, St Paul’s Collegiate School and Diocesan School for Girls. Waikato Diocesan School crew 1 with stroke Olivia Fellows-Ford, Sophie Reeves, Isobel Watson, Holly Mills and coxswain Phillipa Wilson took gold in an impressive 7:14.88, with Christchurch Girls’ High School taking silver and Rangi Ruru Girls’ School taking bronze.
Made from segments of South African wood, the Springbok Shield is awarded to the winners of the boy’s U18 coxed four and replicates a shield in South Africa called the Kiwi Shield. Won in 2018 by Hamilton Boys’ High School, the trophy has been won eight times by Tauranga Boys’ College, six times by Christ’s College and four times by Westlake Boys’ High School. This year’s final included two Christchurch Boys’ High School crews, Westlake Boys’ High School, two Christ’s College crews, Hamilton Boys’ High School, John McGlashan College and St Paul’s Collegiate. Christchurch Boys’ High School’s crew of stroke James Gloer, Ethan Alderlieste, Cameron Henderson, Tom Fraser and coxswain Timothy Heritage took gold in only 6:25.39, with Westlake Boys’ High School and Christ’s College taking silver and bronze respectively.
In the boy’s U15 eight Hamilton Boys’ High School took a win in one of the most crowd-enthused races of the day. Stroke Daniel Humphrey, Adam Wilson, Cameron Reid, Snowden Hemi-Hill, Simon Dmitrenko, Tony Smith, Lucas Cooke, Ethan Johnson and coxswain Jamie Zyza crossed the line in 6:07.11, well ahead of Christ’s College’s silver medalling crew made up of stroke Abe McArthur, Benji Ward, Edward Botherway, Bruno Vaughan, Johnny Lee, Hamish Grigg, Toby Beresford, William Jones and coxswain Rocco Barker, who finished in 6:16.00. Marlborough Boys’ College took bronze in 6:21.65.
Epsom Girls’ Grammar School took gold in the girl’s novice U18 eight but not without a strong challenge from not one, but two Rangi Ruru Girls’ School crews. Stroke Hannah Warn, Erin Hamilton, Jessica Mabey, Pepper Hall, Siniva Setoga, Amelia Wood, Brianna Jolly, Lily-Belle Sawyer and coxswain Lulu Humberstone-Hurley crossed the finish line in 6:53.63, just over three seconds ahead of Rangi Ruru’s Meg Crump (stroke), Abigail Reid, Katie Bond, Lilly Ellis, Primrose Porter, Leila Rhodes, Millie Bushnell, Maggie Craw and coxswain Jemima Porter. Rangi Ruru’s second crew in the event took bronze in a time of 7:00.44.
The boy’s U16 coxed quad was one of the tightest races of the day with Nelson College’s gold winning crew crossing the 2000m mark only 0.33 seconds ahead of St Peter’s College (Auckland). Nelson College’s crew was made up of stroke Sam Lenton, Oliver Ransom, Matthew Baker, Tom Murray and coxswain Flynn Hennessy. Having won both their heat and semi-final, today’s win was no surprise to coaches Kaye Surgenon and Joe Bennion. Wakatipu High School took bronze in 6:43.32.
In the girl’s U18 double scull Beckie Leigh and Teri Wyatt of St Peter’s School (Cambridge) took gold ahead of Avonside Girls’ High School and St Hilda’s Collegiate. Leigh was also part of the 2018 Rowing NZ Junior team who competed in Poznan, Poland at the World Rowing Junior Championships and has also made the A final for the U18 single scull, U18 coxed quad and U18 eight. Wyatt will also compete with Leigh in the U18 eight tomorrow.
In the boy’s U18 pair, Christchurch Boys’ High School’s James Glover and Tom Fraser took a comfortable gold ahead of Westlake Boys’ High School’s Bowen de Gouw and Samuel Shotter in second, with Auckland Grammar Schools’ Thomas Barrell and Theo Lotu-I’Iga in third.
Throughout the 2019 Aon Maadi Cup, rowit.nz has had over 1.6 million page views across 53 countries, with an average of 8,300 unique site visitors daily. Users are spending an average 1 hour and 41mins each viewing session.
Sponsor support
Aon has been a major partner to Rowing NZ for over 14 years, and the Aon Maadi Cup continues to be proudly sponsored by Aon.
Aon is the leading provider of insurance broking, risk management and associated services both in New Zealand and globally. They pride themselves on protecting all different kinds of Kiwis, from young families through to businesses and farms of all types and sizes. With over 950 staff located in offices spanning from Kerikeri to Invercargill, Kiwis will be sure to find a local Aon broker no matter where they live.
‘’Aon have supported rowing in New Zealand for almost 15 years, and it’s a relationship we’re both grateful for and immensely proud of. Fostering secondary school rowing is incredibly important – it obviously generates talent for future New Zealand representatives, but more importantly it helps grow New Zealand’s youth into great people. Aon have never been the type to provide us with financial support and walk away – they genuinely care about our sport and athletes, and are familiar faces at our regattas across the country. In recent years their support has stretched to working with secondary schools directly and providing much needed equipment. The Aon Maadi Cup remains one of the biggest secondary school sporting events in New Zealand and we’re proud to work alongside Aon to bring it to life each year.’’
Simon Peterson, Rowing NZ Chief Executive
Tomorrow marks the last day of the Aon Maadi Cup and includes A and B finals for a further 24 events.
The event’s programme is available to view online at rowingnz.kiwi, maadi.co.nz and via the Rowing NZ App. A live webcast of finals will be available from Friday onward via the Rowing NZ App and maadi.co.nz