and St Bede’s College. Both crews lifted their rates as the finish line approached and with 250m to go, St Bede’s College managed to edge out a narrow lead. This move proved decisive, and St Bede’s College held on to win the event, leaving the College crew of Fergus Johnston and Charlie Poulter to settle for 2nd. It was pleasing to note that this was the first time College had medalled in this event since 2011. The U17 eight was the next crew up. The field flew out of the blocks and had a clear water lead over College within the first 500m. Unfortunately, this proved too much for the College crew and try as it might, it was unable to close the gap to the leaders, finishing a gallant 7th. College’s next event was the U15 octuple. The A crew had worked consistently all season and shown tremendous pace. After an amazing heat, all eyes were on this crew to see what they could do in the final. What had gone unnoticed was the fact that College had qualified two crews for the A final, with the B crew sculling tremendously well in the repechage. The first half of the race was tremendously quick, with three crews
– College, St Paul’s Collegiate, and Hamilton Boys’ High School (HBHS)– showing out. Both HBHS and St Paul’s Collegiate were expecting the big push from College in the 3rd 500m and threw everything at their rival. Not to be outfoxed, the College crew waited and charged in the final 500m. This proved decisive as College moved through both crews to win by 0.3 of a second. Not to be out done, the B crew raced tremendously and moved through the field to finish a very good 4th. College had two final events on Friday – the U18 coxed quad and U18 coxed four. College had the quad qualifying for the B final and the four for the A final. In the U18 quad final, the crew made another typical slow start, working its way through the field. Unfortunately for the boys, the conditions were deteriorating and one of the blades did not exit the water properly, slowing the crew down. Try as the crew might, it could not catch the leaders and had to settle for 3rd in the B final and 11th overall. The U18 four had a solid race in the final but found the going tough. Racing courageously through the middle of
the race, the boys put themselves in a position to challenge for a medal. Unfortunately, as the crew made its move, so, too, did the crews in front. At the finish, College’s A boat had placed 6th. On Saturday, two College crews were racing – the U16 eight and the U18A eight. In the U16 final, all crews flew out of the start. The College crew quickly settled into tits rhythm and started to move through the field. By the halfway mark, College was 4th and moving well. As the crews moved into the last 500m, College started to move through the crews in front. Unfortunately, the finish line came a little too quickly, with the College crew of Will Richards, Finnian Chan-Allan, Max Airey, Geordie Pavey, George Wilson, James Hadden, George Young, and Mark Reidie finishing 3rd, only 0.5sec off 2nd and 1.2sec behind 1st. In what proved to be a remarkable race, all three crews broke the magical 6min mark for 2000m. The time was 3sec faster than the New Zealand record. The final event of the regatta was the U18 eight. In the A final, the 1st eight lined up against seven other top crews from throughout
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