Christ’s College U18 Coxed Eights preparing for Maadi Cup

The Maadi Cup New Zealand Secondary School Rowing Championships rowing regatta is on Lake Ruataniwha from 4-10 April – one of the biggest secondary school events on the sporting calendar with 2100 rowers in 1600 crews from 120 schools taking part. 

Hamilton Boys’ High School crews have won the last three boys U18 Coxed Eights events, with Christ’s College the last school other than Hamilton to win in 2012. Last weekend Hamilton warmed up by winning the North Island Secondary Schools U18 Eights title.

The Christ’s College crew won the corresponding South Island title last weekend, and is one of several crews out to break Hamilton’s hold on the silverware. College Sport Media caught up with their coach Henry Smith, ahead of this year’s Maadi Cup.  

Congratulations on winning the boys U18 Coxed Eights at the SISS Rowing regatta last weekend – how did the big race pan out?
It was a very close race for us. We were able to establish a small lead over St Andrew’s College and Christchurch Boys’ High School out of the start. As the race progressed the crew was able to continue to build on this lead, eventually stretching it out to a 4.5 second margin over Christchurch Boys’ High School at the finish. St Andrew’s College finished a further 10 seconds behind, in third place. We were hoping for a close race heading into the Maadi Cup and this race certainly delivered.

What other regattas have this U18 Eights crew been competing in this season?
Our crews race as school crews for the whole season - Christ’s College is a rowing club in its own right. Results have been: Canterbury Secondary School Rowing Championships – 1st; South Island Club Championships – 2nd, Men’s Open Eight; Canterbury Rowing Championships – 1st, Men’s Open Eight; Otago Rowing Championships – 2nd, Men’s Open Eight.

The Maadi Cup brings the South Island and North Island schools together over six days. Is the Maadi Cup regatta the pinnacle event on the secondary schools rowing calendar, and who are the North Island schools to beat?
Yes, the Maadi Cup regatta is the pinnacle for all rowing schools. It is one of the few regattas where athletes compete for their schools and not for their various clubs.
The competition in the North Island is very intense.  There are six or seven schools who are always pushing each other in both the fours and the eights.
They include Hamilton Boys’ High School, Westlake Boys’ High School, Auckland Grammar School, Wanganui Collegiate School, Saint Kentigern College, St Paul’s Collegiate School and Sacred Heart College

If your U18 Eight crew goes all the way to the A final, how many races will they row, and what is the time gap between races?
If the boys go all the way to the A final on the Saturday, they will most likely row two races (possibly three if we have to go via the repechage). The heats for the U18 Eights are around midday Tuesday. The repechage for the eights are held on Wednesday afternoon.

Are the U18 Eight crew members also competing in other races at the Maadi Cup regatta?
Yes. All of the boys race in up to three events during the week. This means that most boys will race in between six and nine races over the six days.

How long has this U18 Eights crew been together? How have they performed in previous Maadi Cups?
The nucleus of this crew has been together for three seasons. Most of the boys have rowed together since 2014 in the U16 crew, with two new boys joining them from the U17s.
Three of the crew are returning to 1st eight from last season’s crew (Angus Gray (Captain of Rowing), Cameron Smith and George Gould (coxswain). Five of the crew also rowed in the winning Under 17 crew from last season (Angus Gray, Rowan Taylor, Cameron Smith, Oscar Acland and Oliver Tyler).

What other Christ’s College crews will be competing at Maadi Cup - you also won the U15 Coxed Octuple Sculls at last weekend’s South Island regatta?
We have Eights, Fours and Quads competing in all year groups: U15, U16, U17 and U18.
Yes, the U15 octuple scull won their event. This was a great result for the crew, as they were able to turn the tables on Marlborough Boys’ College who had narrowly beaten them at the Canterbury Secondary Schools Championships two weeks’ earlier.

Are the students conversant with the school’s rich history in the Maadi Cup?
Yes! It is a major driving force behind the success of our rowing programme. Every race, the boys try to meet the standards set for them in previous seasons. It also links well with the school’s motto Bene tradita, bene servanda (Good traditions, well maintained).
As far as we are aware, Christ’s College is the only school that has rowed in every Under 18 final (consecutively) since 1986.
Although we were the last school outside of Hamilton Boys’ High School to win the Maadi Cup, this is not a major driving factor for us. We strive to give the boys the best opportunity to succeed in rowing and our rowing programme develops skills they can take forward to other areas of their lives.
The Maadi Cup is now in a new era. School rowing programmes are well resourced, heavily funded and driven by enthusiastic parental support. A placing at this regatta is no longer assured and being able to trust a well developed and tested programme ensures the students have every opportunity to succeed at their own levels.

Are there former Christ’s College students who have recently been in or are now in New Zealand elite rowing squads?
Yes, several Old Boys have rowed in various New Zealand crews.

• Donald Leach competed for NZ from 2003–2006, including rowing in the men’s heavyweight four at the Athens Olympics, placing 5th.
• Matthew Trott competed for NZ in both the men’s double sculls and men’s quadruple sculls, including rowing at the London Olympics in the men’s quad, placing 7th.
• Duncan Grant competed for NZ from 2002–2012 as a lightweight. Duncan was also a three time World Champion (consecutive) in the lightweight single scull (2007, 2008 and 2009).
• James Lassche is a current member of New Zealand’s high performance squad and has been in the NZ rowing system since 2007. He has been one of the staple members of NZ’s very successful lightweight four and has been selected to represent NZ at the Rio Olympics.
• James and Sam O’Connor have both rowed for Oxford University in the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race on the River Thames. Sam won three times and James won twice.
• Sam Bosworth is a current member of Christ’s College’s coaching team. He has competed for NZ since 2012, as coxswain winning a gold medal in the junior coxed four and three consecutive silver medals in the Under 23 coxed four.

Who are the coaching and support staff and the rowers competing at the Maadi Cup regatta?
The coaching staff includes four full-time teachers:

• Henry Smith – Head Coach and Deputy Housemaster of School House.
• Tony O’Connor – Head of Condell’s House
• David Griffiths – Mathematics.
• Andrew Taylor – Head of Physics and Chapel Warden.
• Chris Sellars – Rowing Manager, Housemaster of Richards House and Careers Advisor.
• M. McIntyre – Senior Coach and Boatman
• Sam Bosworth – Coxswain Coach
• C. Newman – Assistant Coach
• J. Smith – Physiotherapist
• K. Darry – Nutritionist

The Christ's College Maadi Cup regatta squad is:
Angus Gray (Head of Rowing), Oliver Tyler (Deputy Head of Rowing), Rowan Taylor, Cameron Smith, Oscar Acland, J. Beadel, M. Sandston, M.Smith, S. Tillman, J. McArthur, F. Mann, G. Clarke, D. Harnett, George Gould   (Under 18)
J. Newton, R. Turnbull, A. O’Shannessy, M. Batchelor, ­T. Bosworth, P. Hone, J. Wade (Under 17)
J. Sprott, H. Hawkins, G. Flynn, H. Black, S. Darry, H. Voice, H. Zarifeh, S. Swanson, S. Smith, J. Pye, C. Nicholson, L. Batchelor. S. Aitken, B. McGuigan, A. Finlay, W. Murray, T. Hawley, M. Goodwin, Z.Cran (Under 16)
F. Smith, J. Batchelor, R. Acland, T. Davis, T. Vincent, A. Todhunter, E. McBride, J. Elvy, Z. Gallagher (Under 15).

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