Timaru Boys’ High rowers off to world champs
Two Timaru Boys’ High School rowers will soon head to Canada to represent New Zealand at the world rowing championships.
Payo O'Sullivan and Ben Allan, both 17, have made the under-19 New Zealand team heading to the city of St Catharines in August to compete at the 2024 World Rowing Senior, Under-23 and Under-19 Championships, a combined event.
Mac Brown and Luke Tomkins, also from the Timaru school, have made the South Island team, while coxswain Ned Brown was selected for a South Island trial but did not make the team.
Allan said he was “pretty happy” to have made the national team and was looking forward to eight weeks of training in Cambridge, Waikato, before heading overseas.
“I was not expecting to get in this year, but it’s a good feeling to make it. It’s going to be a good experience in Canada,” he said.
“The competition during the trials was tough. These were some of the best rowers in New Zealand, and it was really close margins to make it to the team. We were lucky enough to get in.”
Allan said that although he was mates with the others on the under-19 team, it was good to know he would be joined by somebody from his own school.
He added that his family, who have been very supportive of his rowing, were “really happy” as well. “Training is going to be tough, but it will be fun to train with some of the top rowers.”
O’Sullivan said he felt “really good” about making the national team and that the trials were “really tough”.
Preparations for Canada would involve a lot of training and he planned to “keep grinding”. TBHS rowing coach Brian Smith said he had been hoping to get one rower through to the New Zealand team, and having two qualify was something “unheard of for our school”.
“I commend their effort and determination over the years. It’s pretty amazing what they did,” he said.
“They have put in the effort all season. It’s their tenacity and determination as much as their skill that’s helped them.
“What impressed me is their consistency throughout the season.”
Smith said trials for the under-19 team lasted five days, and the rowers had to race against each other five times in the morning and five times in the afternoon for a spot on the national team.
“The time difference between them was just fractions of a second to make it to the New Zealand team. I think the boys are speechless, and they still can’t believe what they have achieved.”