Image Credit: TBC Rowing Club
The Maadi Cup is the largest school sports event in the Southern Hemisphere. At a junior level, winning a title here is the grand prize for most New Zealand athletes, second only to representing your country at the U19 World Rowing Championships. And in this event, the U18 coxed quadruple sculls, the competition is always exhilarating. After the North and South Island Secondary School Regattas, we now have a pretty good idea of who the leading contenders will be, so without further ado, let’s look at the competitors.
Wakatipu High School
As the fastest crew from the South Island, Wakatipu will be looking to fight off their competitors from the North Island and take the glory back down south with them. At the South Island Secondary School Championships held on the glistening waters of Lake Twizel earlier this month, this crew blew all others out of the water, taking gold by a merciless 17 seconds over the lineup from St Thomas of Canterbury. Their time, 6:41.56, leaves them a few seconds behind what the top North Island crews posted, but Twizel is known to have generally slower conditions than Lake Karapiro. Wakatipu’s crew lineup consists of two U17s and two U18s, as well as U17 cox Cameron Hall, and all members appear to be fearsome adversaries. Three out of four claimed gold in all three events they raced at South Islands, with only one result falling short, though it was still a silver. Now, the only question remaining is whether they can hold their own against the top crews from the North.
St Paul’s Collegiate School
Leading the charge in the North Island is St Pauls, who grasped victory at the North Island Secondary School Championships, though far less convincingly than their counterparts from Wakatipu. In 6:31.20, they took the podium’s top step by just under a boat length after a tightly contested battle with Whanganui High School. Their crew, made up of two U17s and two U18s, also looks like a force to be reckoned with. Though none of these lads competed at the New Zealand Rowing Championships, at the North Island Rowing Championships, two members, Gus Weir and George Benjamin, claimed gold in the club coxed quad, an impressive achievement. Sam Schulze and cox Fletcher Rogers also finished in bronze in the same event. This outfit is not to be underestimated, and they will certainly have been training hard in the weeks since to ensure victory. With their squad’s deep history and success behind them, will they be able to do it?
Whanganui High School
Less than two seconds behind St Pauls at NISS, this crew from Whanganui has what it takes to step up and steal it all. Despite the second-place finish at their last event, this crew may have the deepest talent, featuring athletes who have achieved unbelievable success at such young ages. Headed up by Jake Newton and Nicky Maxim, who walked away with silver medals in the senior coxless quad at the National Championships, they have had unprecedented seasons. Not only that, but last year, Newton and crewmate William Herd represented NZ at the World Coastal Beach Sprint Championships in Genoa, Italy. Supported by Joshua Cordini, a U17 import from Germany, this crew has excellent pedigree. Directed down the course by cox Lauren Davies, who came away from NISS with three medals, this crew has all the ingredients for success. What remains now is whether they have been able to combine those ingredients into the raw speed needed to topple their competitors.
Prediction
This is a difficult one to call, with three top-tier crews battling it out for just one title. It is challenging to overlook just how dominant Wakatipu were at South Island Secondary Schools, though it is difficult to compare their times against what the northerners achieved at Karapiro that same weekend. Simultaneously, the individual success of every member of the Whanganui crew is also difficult to overlook. Regardless of the outcome, it will be a close race and a great spectacle.
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