Never say die: crew overcomes disaster
TALK about slow out of the blocks.
An Otago Boys’ High School crew has pulled off a remarkable comeback at the Maadi Cup after a start that probably could not have been worse.
The school’s under16 boys coxed quadruple sculls crew of Sam Moore, Thomas Ryan, Jack HollandSpinks, Michael Manson and cox Tate Drummond looked dead and buried in its semifinal on Thursday.
But it never threw in the towel and ended up claiming bronze in yesterday’s final.
The team always looked a chance after impressive performances in which it finished a close second in its heat and then won its repechage.
In the semifinal the quad bombed the start. One of Thomas Ryan’s oars fell out of the boat, he fell out of his seat and the seat came off the rails.
So as the other seven crews took off, the Otago Boys’ crew sat on the start line.
But all was not lost: the oar was retrieved from the water, the seat fixed, the bottom placed and all hands and oars went into motion.
The other crews may have got a 150m start but the crew dug deep and performed well enough, rowing through the field.
A time of 6min 59.57sec saw it sneak into the fourth and final qualifying spot, almost four seconds in front of fifthplaced Timaru Boys’ High School.
Even the officials were amazed, giving the boys a chocolate fish each for their efforts.
Being the slowest qualifiers, the crew found themselves in lane one for the final yesterday morning, usually for the rank outsiders.
But it managed to stay intact at the start and remained in touch with the contenders the whole way, finishing almost three seconds ahead of fourth place to grab an unexpected bronze.
Its time of 6min 36.22sec was only just shy of that of Marlborough Boys’ College, which finished in 6min 35.97sec to take the silver. King’s College, of Auckland, won in 6min 34.33sec.
THIS year’s Maadi Cup has been extra special for the Turner family.
Siblings Callie and Will gave the family two medals in consecutive finals at Lake Karipiro yesterday.
They contributed to two of the three medals won by Otago crews.
Callie Turner was part of the Columba College girls under17 coxed four that got the day off to a strong start for the region’s crews.
Also consisting of Milly Nesbit, Abby Anderson, Millie Wright and cox Megan Maslin, the crew claimed a bronze medal in 7min 40.40.
It was very nearly a silver, with St Peter’s College pipping them by 21hundredths of a second.
Twenty minutes later, younger brother Will was at it in the under15 double sculls.
He combined with Will Edwards to win silver for John McGlashan College.
Having been one of the dominant crews throughout the regatta, the duo found themselves in a tight scrap for positions.
St Paul’s Collegiate claimed first in 7min 29.91 sec, but John McGlashan finished in 7min 31.26sec to pip John Paul College for second.
Otago Boys’ High School won a bronze in the boys under16 quadruple sculls in dramatic fashion.
In the same race, John McGlashan College finished eighth.
Taieri College’s Haylee Budd just missed out on a bronze. She finished the under17 girls single sculls final in 8min 23.79sec, behind Andrea Flick, of Westlake Girls’ High School, in 8min 23.62sec.
Dunstan High School managed a fourth in the girls under15 coxed quadruple sculls. Its crew finished in 7min 46.16sec, although was a way back from thirdplaced Villa Maria College, which clocked in at 7min 42.99sec.
In the final event of the day, Columba College finished fourth in the girls under18 coxed four.
It finished in 7min 24.44sec, just over four seconds behind the thirdplaced Diocesan School for Girls crew.
Otago has several more crews in medal contention as the finals continue tomorrow.
The regatta concludes tomorrow evening.