is on to perform. Thankfully, 15 of College’s 22 crews progressed directly through to either semi-finals or A finals. The U17 Eight showed a great improvement in form and scorched out to a commanding lead. The U18 A Four led their heat for 1600 metres before settling for 2nd. The U16 A Eight had a very tight battle with Hamilton Boys’ High School and CBHS in the first half of their heat before stretching away to a comfortable victory. The U15 Octuple Scull had the race of their lives to come 1st in their heat and book a place in the A final. And in the final heat, the U18 1st Eight raced to victory and a place in the A final. The result ensured College’s 33-year unbroken run of having an eight race in the Maadi Cup final continued. By the end of the week, 17 College crews had qualified for either A or B finals, which meant 46 out of 52 boys were racing for medals or places. All crews were told to treat the finals as a new regatta. First crew to the water for the finals was the U17 Eight. Tom Tothill (stroke), Lachlan Hazlett, Fletcher
Anderson, Guy Chaffey, Dominic Edmond, Charles Smith, Liam Alexander, Gus Orr (bow) and Fin Smith (coxswain) had yet to show what they were truly capable of, but were determined not to let the opportunity pass them by. In the first 1000m they were neck and neck with HBHS and CBHS, but then a blistering move by both CBHS and College saw them surge ahead of Hamilton. At the finish, College was 0.2 seconds behind CBHS and silver medal winners. Next came the U15 Octuple Scull. Abe McArthur (Stroke), Benji Ward, Ned Botherway, Bruno Vaughan, Johnny Lee, Hamish Grigg, Toby Beresford, William Jones and Rocco Barker (coxswain) were looking to end a tremendous season in style. From the start, there were only two crews in the race: College and HBHS. Unfortunately, the smaller boys in the College crew were not able to stick with Hamilton’s power in the final 1000m and slipped behind, finishing with a silver medal and the second fastest time in College’s octuple scull history.
Then came the U16 Four. Louie Bethell (stroke), Gus Orr, Liam Alexander, Thomas McEwan and Hamish McCulloch (coxswain) had suffered a minor setback in the semi-final, when they were beaten by Lindisfarne College. But the loss was exactly what they needed, and a more focused crew took to the water for the final. They started slowly and built their speed through the first 1000m, then put on a decidedly strong and sustained push and moved through both Lindisfarne and St Andrew’s College to take a very memorable 1st place. The U18 Novice Eight raced right on the heels of the U16 Four. This final proved to be full of tension and excitement. After barely 80m, one of the seats in the College boat broke, but quick thinking by coxswain Nic Turnbull meant the crew was able to get the race restarted, as the break had happened before the 100m mark. The second start wasn’t much better, but at least there wasn’t a gear failure. After 500m, the crew was last and had a significant amount of work to do to close on the pace set by HBHS. A determined Archie
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Register 2019 Sport
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