In near perfect conditions at Lake Karapiro, the St Andrew’s College rowing squad displayed drive, toughness, and great technical skill to bring home an incredible six medal haul from the national Maadi Cup regatta – one gold, one silver, and four bronze. Due to South Island Championships being cancelled, South Island Secondary School medals were also awarded, with St Andrew’s receiving 11 medals.

Boys’ U18 eight Maadi Cup Bronze medal winners

In just the fourth time in St Andrew’s College history, the Boys’ U18 eight crew made the final of the Maadi Cup, the pinnacle of secondary schools’ rowing. The crew, comprising Sam Long, Fergus Rutledge (both Y12), Caleb Brown (Y13), James McLaren, Angus Hill (both Y12), Dylan Smith (Y13), Henry Farrell (Y12), Lachlan Muir and cox, Alexander Carrodus (both Y13) rowed an outstanding race to win a bronze medal, finishing less than a second behind Auckland Grammar School, and around six seconds behind the eventual race winners and local rivals Christ’s College.

Five of the boys, Caleb Brown, James McLaren, Dylan Smith, Sam Long, and cox, Alexander Carrodus, had already won silver in the Springbok Shield (Boys’ U18 coxed four), which is another premier event at the regatta. In a thrilling finish they were just beaten by Auckland Grammar School. The boys also won a gold medal for being the top South Island school in the same race.

Georgia Thomson (Y12) also had an outstanding regatta, winning the only gold medal for St Andrew’s College, in the Girls’ U16 single sculls. She rowed with determination throughout the week and was justly rewarded after a fantastic row in the final.

The remaining bronze medals were won by Caleb Brown and Lachlan Muir in the Boys’ U18 coxless pairs; Sophia Rutherford (Y13) in the Girls’ U18 single sculls; and Sam Long, Fergus Rutledge, Henry Farrell, James McLaren, Angus Hill, Toby Middleton, Oliver McDonald, Tom Rutherford (all Y12), and cox, Alexander Carrodus (Y13) in the Boys’ U17 coxed eight.

The squad of 42 students made it through to an impressive 13 A finals, which was the second equal highest number achieved by any school. This achievement was made even more special, when considering the finals were across every age group, in both boys’ and girls’ events.

The results at Maadi Cup are on the back of a strong season for St Andrew’s College rowers. At the South Island Rowing Championships, 37 College crews made finals, with 10 gaining a top three result. Gold medals were won at this regatta by the Men’s Club eight (Sam Long, Fergus Rutledge, Angus Hill, James McLaren, Oliver McDonald, Toby Middleton, Henry Farrell, Tom Rutherford, and cox, Amalia Ling (Y13); and the Men’s Club pair (Caleb Brown and Lachlan Muir).

With so many medal winning Maadi Cup rowers still in Year 12, the future bodes extremely well for the rowing programme in 2022.

Teacher in Charge of rowing, Liam Smith, said Guy Williams and the rest of the coaching team did a fantastic job of preparing the students to perform at a level that exceeded their expectations. “ We also want to thank parents and family who have supported the students at regattas and camps throughout the year, along with Heidi Koning, Liz Gormack, Hamish Bell and Evert van Florenstein for their support.”

Following the regatta, Georgia Thomson, Angus Hill, Fergus Rutledge, Henry Farrell, James McLaren and Sam Long (all Y12) were named as 2021 North vs South U18 triallists. Caleb Brown, Lachie Muir and Dylan Smith (all Y13) were named as 2021 New Zealand U19 triallists. Two coaching staff also received representative honours, Tim Hopkins as South Island U18 Boys’ sweep coach, and Guy Williams as New Zealand U21 Men’s sweep coach.