After an exciting season, four of the five schools rowing out of WRC sent contingents to the Maadi Regatta in Twizel, achieving some impressive results.

Lake Ruataniwha has not always turned on the best conditions for WRC rowers in recent years – the past two NZ Master Champs held in Twizel have been abandoned after only a handful of races – but conditions were largely perfect across the entire week for the school rowers.

Our rowers had most success in the small boat categories. Marsden’s Emily Greening claimed fifth in the Girls U16 Single, while her schoolmates Imogen Hille and Charlie Fitzgerald took silver in the Girls U17 Pair and backed it up with fifth in the U18 Pair, earning both girls a trial for the North Island school squad.

Onslow’s Costin Eley and Reuben Andrewes matched the Marsden girls’ silver medal with one of their own in the Boys U16 Double. Costin also impressed in the U15 Double, teaming up with Louis Kelly to make an extremely competitive A Final after what has been a dominant season for that crew.

Despite a relatively small squad, St Patrick’s Wellington performed strongly, led by the Rook brothers, Aidan and Conor. The brothers achieved fifth in one of the regatta’s premier events, the Boys U18 Double, and Aidan added another A Final to his haul, finishing sixth in the Boys U17 Single.

St Pat’s also had a strong Novice squad this season, performing well in the U18 Novice Four (fifth in the B Final) and winning the B Final of the U18 Novice Eight. While some of these boys will be leaving school next year, coach Rex Jones will be hoping to retain a core group from this squad to form the basis of successful crews in future.

The results were rounded out by St Mary’s, who performed well in the sculling events. Despite only entering four events in total, the St Mary’s girls will be pleased to have achieved B Finals in two of these events (third in the U16 Double, and fifth in the U15 Quad).

Congratulations to all our rowers for their performances at Maadi – and across the season as a whole.

Article added: Tuesday 07 April 2026