Above: Shakira Mirfin, second from right, of Southland Girls' High School on the podium in Tokyo after New Zealand won the women's quadruple sculls at the world junior rowing championships. PHOTO: Rowing NZ.
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Shakira Mirfin is back home in Invercargill and taking a well-earned break from the water, after a hard winter's training in Cambridge that was recently capped off by winning gold with the women’s quadruple skulls crew at the Junior World Championships in Japan.

Shakira and her crew of scullers came together at the end of the last rowing season to form the winning crew that beat crews representing Germany and Romania into second and third in the A final at the Junior World Championships in Tokyo.

“We had a heat, semi-final and final and won all three and it great to part of,” said Shakira who was rowing for New Zealand overseas for the first time.

Shakira’s teammates were Eva Hofmans (Bayfield High School), Rebecca Leigh (St Peter's School, Cambridge) and Phoebe Trolove (Craighead Diocesan School).

They were coached by Hannah Starnes, from the Nelson Rowing Club.

“I watched the race back afterwards and it was a pretty cool race, “ added Shakira who was the three-seat, behind stroke Rebecca Leigh.

The crew comprised the top four place getters in the U18 Single Skulls race at this year’s Maadi Cup, with winner Phoebe, Eva, Rebecca and Shakira finishing first to fourth in that order.

Shakira is year 12 and also won the U17 Single Skulls, after winning the U16 race previous year. The other three are year 13, although Rebecca is a young year 13 and the same age as Shakira.

Maadi Cup was only part of the team’s selection though. “We had a week-long trial and there were other scullers trialing as well so that was more of a coincidence that all four of us made it.”

The intensity and commitment that is the life of an elite rower continued throughout the winter as the crews assembled in Cambridge to live and train. Some 14 out of town Junior World Championship rowers attended school at St Peter’s School by day and did their own school’s work by proxy in the school’s library.

Tokyo was hot, so was it a shock going from the Karapiro winter to a hot and humid summer in Japan?

“We knew we had to adapt so we did some heat training in Cambridge. We heated the whole room up to 30 degrees and wore jackets.”

Back home, Shakira has a month off rowing. But you can’t keep her idle.

“I am training for the Peak to Peak race at the end of the month.”

The Peak to Peak is the multisport race out of Queenstown from the Remarkables to Coronet Peak.

“I am part of a team with some friends and rowers and I am doing kayaking and the downhill biking so that should be fun.”

The biking is a sport she is right at home with.

In a former sporting life, she won an Oceania title and two national titles and competed in world championships as a BMX racer.

She is looking forward to the rowing season soon after the multisport challenge, which will culminate next year with the Maadi Cup in Twizel.

She is also a second year Academy Southland member.

The 2019 World Rowing Junior Championships has attracted 553 rowers from 50 nations.

As well as Shakira’s quad crew, three of New Zealand’s four crews made A Finals and the fourth won their B final.

New Zealand’s Charlotte Darry (St Margaret's College), Alison Mills (St. Paul's Collegiate), Lucy Burrell (Baradene College) and Sally Wylaars (Avonside Girls' High School) finished fifth in the Women’s Four A Final.
The Men’s Quad of Ben Mason (Otago Boys’ High School), Seth Hope (Cambridge RC, Waikato RPC), Jason Nel (St Peter's School Cambridge) and William Thompson (Waikato Rowing Club, Waikato RPC) finished sixth in the A final.

The Men’s Double of Kobe Miller (Blenheim Rowing Club, Central RPC) and Scott Shackleton (Christchurch Boys' High School) won the B Final and finished seventh overall.

At the conclusion of the 2019 World Rowing Junior Championships, three of New Zealand’s four crews made A Finals, with the women’s quad taking gold.

Women’s Quad (JW4x) - A Final - Gold
After placing first in their women’s quad heat and A/B semi-final, Eva Hofmans (Bayfield High School), Rebecca Leigh (St Peter's School, Cambridge), Shakira Mirfin (Southland Girls' High School) and Phoebe Trolove (Craighead Diocesan School) were in the lead of the A Final from 1000m and comfortably ahead of Germany in second place. With Germany and Romania in third unable to close the gap, the New Zealand crew crossed the line first and took gold in at time of 06:54.32, 2.39 seconds ahead of Germany, who took silver. Romania took bronze.

Hofmans, Leigh, Mirfin and Trolove are coached by Hannah Starnes.

Women’s Four (JW4-) - A Final
New Zealand’s Charlotte Darry (St Margaret's College), Alison Mills (St. Paul's Collegiate), Lucy Burrell (Baradene College) and Sally Wylaars (Avonside Girls' High School) progressed straight to the A Final after placing second in their heat earlier this week. Coached by Nick Barton, the crew made a strong start in the A final today and held second position by the first 500m, but were unable to maintain the speed of China, Italy and Germany who took gold, silver and bronze respectively.
Darry, Mills, Burrell and Wylaars placed fifth in a time of 07:14.50.

Men’s Quad (JM4x) - A Final
Coached by Duncan By de Ley, the New Zealand men’s quad of Ben Mason (Otago Boys’ High School), Seth Hope (Cambridge RC, Waikato RPC), Jason Nel (St Peter's School Cambridge) and William Thompson (Waikato Rowing Club, Waikato RPC) placed first in their heat and second in their A/B semi-final earlier this week.
In today’s A Final, the New Zealand crew were up against Germany and Italy, both of whom had strong performances throughout heats and A/B semi-finals. Unable to maintain the European’s speed, Mason, Hope, Nel and Thompson placed sixth in a time of 06:18.91. Germany took gold, Italy took silver and Russia took bronze.
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Men’s Double (JM2x) - B Final
Also coached by Duncan By de Ley, Kobe Miller (Blenheim Rowing Club, Central RPC) and Scott Shackleton (Christchurch Boys' High School) won the B Final of the men’s double in a time of 06:54.21, ahead of the Netherlands in second and Hungary in third.
Miller and Shackleton rank 7th overall.