SPORT Rowing
MiC: Henry Smith Manager: Chris Sellars Head Coach: Henry Smith Senior Coach: Malcolm McIntyre U16 Coach: Jimmy Healy U15 Coach: Dr Andrew Taylor Assistant Coaches: Liam O’Leary, Max Goodwin, Bryn Hassan The 2019–2020 rowing season will always be remembered as the season that never was. After five-and-a-half months of hard work, dedication, blood, sweat and the occasional tear, the end was in sight – and then it was all ripped away because of Covid-19 and the closing down of sport. Once again, the early season focus was taken off winning and placed on development and accountability. With a strong U18 group, the coaching team looked to build on the previous season’s experience, and integrated the U17 and U18 rowers into a combined senior squad. At each
training session the boys were boated in different combinations and these crews trained side by side to simulate race conditions. The purpose of this system was to promote healthy competition amongst the boys, as well as to develop a group that was adaptable to rowing in different boats and at a very high skill level. The racing season began properly in November, with the sixth running of the senior House fours. This event last ran annually in the late 90s and was first contested for in 1918, so it is great to see the momentum and enthusiasm this latest incarnation of the race has generated amongst both boys and parents. The event sees the boys competing for their House in a knockout format similar to the Henley Royal Regatta, with the winning crew progressing to the next round. After 10 rounds, the final was contested between School House’s number one crew and a crew from
Corfe House – and, in a close run race, School House managed to eke out a slender one length victory. The first major regatta of the season was the Otago championships. This regatta was preceded by a training camp in Twizel, which was the first opportunity for the coaches to test the boys and determine where they were ranked within the club. To keep with the philosophy of development and accountability, College entered crews in a wide variety of events, including the open men’s classes. This strategy saw some excellent racing for the boys early on, but unfortunately the weather did not play its part and, after a week of lovely calm water for training, the regatta only managed to get through 15 races on Saturday before being completely abandoned before lunch on Sunday.
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Register 2020 Sport
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