Schools set goals for rowing champs
Single sculler Jason Nel will lead an 86 member St Peter’s team into competition for the AON North Island Secondary Schools Rowing Championships starting at Lake Karapiro on March 2.
Nel heads a group of proven performers including Brooke Kilmister, Brie Perry and Beckie Leigh. Teams from across the North Island will be looking to use these championships to cement their squads for the Maadi Cup in April.
Both Cambridge schools will be fielding squads with St Peter’s looking to continue its dominance. In 2016 the school produced the best results over three days of racing by winning Top School at the championships.
That year their finals tally was 10 gold, six silver and six bronze medals - collecting 22 overall - which was the highest number achieved by any school.
The pinnacle of the school’s performance was winning the Derbyshire Shield for the Top School at the regatta. This year head coach Janey Wackrow is looking for a continuation of a strong form shown by the novices in her team members in the recent NZ Rowing Championships.
‘‘Our team goal is to try and qualify all our rowers through to a final and ideally our senior boys and girls will be leading from the front,’’ she said.
Wackrow said they didn’t expect medals, but hoped the crews would have their best races of the season and leave it all out in the race course.
Cambridge rowing head High coach School Sarah Monkley acknowledges St Peter’s and King’s as being competitive in the sculls and Hamilton Boys’ and Auckland Grammer in the sweep.
‘‘Our senior rowers’ focus is on achieving best performances to date,’’ Monkley said.
‘‘We’ll see some of our more finely tuned athletes line up alongside those in an A final racing for medals, or in a most competitive B final.’’
While medals are a good confidence boost, the focus is on making finals in this regatta.