Cambridge rowers returned home with two gold and two silver medals after a successful 2022 Aon Maadi Cup this week.
This year marked the 75th anniversary of the prestigious New Zealand secondary schools rowing championships, held at Lake Ruataniwha in Twizel.
The event attracted 1302 rowers, 267 coaches and 95 schools.
Cambridge High School girls U16 coxed quad gold medallists (from left) Isabel Oxenham, Lucy Eastwood, Tegan O’Dwyer, Libby Tonks and Lauren Wood. Photo credit: Conrad Blind, Picture Show Cambridge.
Cambridge High School year 12 student Lucy Eastwood was the standout performer and the only Waipā school rower to win two national titles.
Eastwood teamed with Lauren Wood, Libby Tonks, Tegan O’Dwyer and Isabel Oxenham to win the girls U16 coxed quad event on Saturday before taking out the U16 double sculls event with Izie Murray.
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- Lucy and Izie medals.jpg – Aon Maadi Cup U16 double sculls champions Lucy Eastwood (left) and Izie Murray from Cambridge High School. Photo credit: Conrad Blind, Picture Show Cambridge.
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- St Peters quad.jpg – St Peter’s Cambridge boys U16 coxed quad sculls silver medallists (from left) coach Chris Thorsen, cox Alyssa Sherry-Middlemiss, Valentin Barrio, Jack Kidd, Josh Yeoman and Harrison McClintock. Photo credit: Light & Motion Photography.
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- Harrison McClintock.jpg – St Peter’s Cambridge student Harrison McClintock took silver in the boys U16 single sculls event. Photo credit: Art of Rowing.
“Lucy had an outstanding regatta,” coach Michele Munro said.
“She got two silvers at Maadi last year in the same events and so to come back and get gold in both is a pretty cool story.”
Cambridge High School finished 11th in the Star Trophy points competition for overall champion rowing secondary school.
“We’re not one of the bigger powerhouses of rowing schools so it’s great to even feature on the medal table for us, and to be 11th is really cool when there are 95 schools competing,” Munro said.
“We’re just proud of the group in general. They had some fantastic results out there. The girls U17 quad only just missed out – I think there was less than two seconds between third, fourth and fifth and we ended up fifth, so that was really close. And we had a fourth in the U18 double as well, so we were right up there but we couldn’t quite get onto the podium in a couple of races.
“Even just qualifying for an A final so you’re in contention for a medal at Maadi is a big deal and I think we made six A finals and seven B finals overall, so that’s something that we’re really proud of.”
Harrison McClintock was the star for St Peter’s, finishing second with Valentin Barrio, Jack Kidd, Josh Yeoman and Alyssa Sherry-Middlemiss in the boys U16 coxed quad sculls before taking silver in the boys U16 single sculls.
St Peter’s director of rowing Janey Charlton said her school’s 38 rowers finished 23rd overall and 12th equal in the Presidents Scull points trophy for champion sculling school.
“The team made it through to 12 A finals and seven B finals, which was an awesome achievement and equalled the most A finals by any school,” she said.
“There was some incredibly tough and tight racing and our U16 boys had a wonderful regatta picking up silver. Then Harrison also had an outstanding race to pick up silver in a very tight finish in the U16 boys sculls.
“South Island Rowing did a fantastic job of running the regatta to keep everyone safe and allow the racing to go ahead.”
Rowers to make A finals in the 2022 Aon Maadi Cup:
Cambridge High
Girls, U16 double sculls I Murray, L Eastwood 1, U16 coxed quad sculls L Wood, L Tonks, T O’Dwyer, L Eastwood, Oxenham 1, U18 double sculls J Markgraaff, B Deacon 4, U17 coxed quad sculls C Cook, K Holmes-Burr, A Reeve, B Deacon, Oxenham 5, Girls U17 single sculls B Deacon did not finish, U17 coxless pairs C Cook, K Holmes-Burr 7.
St Peters,
Girls, U18 coxless pair oars S Eden, C Challis 4, U16 coxed quad sculls M Hazlett, S Walker, K Woodfield, L O’Donohoe, A Sherry-Middlemiss 4, U16 coxed eight A Donovan, K Woodfield, M Hazlett, L Hay, C Davison, G Wenham, S Walker, B Weir S Davison 5, U16 coxed four A Donovan, K Woodfield, M Hazlett, L Hay, A Nanjappa 5, U18 single sculls S Eden 6, U17 coxed eight A Barrio Frojan, H Stuart, E Ryan, A Davidson, C Moriarty, M McGuire, I Short, Z Wrigley, K Axtell 7, U17 coxed quad sculls A Barrio Frojan, H Stuart, A Davidson, Z Wrigley, H Baldwin 8.
Boys, U16 single sculls H McClintock 2, U16 coxed quad sculls H McClintock, J Yeoman, J Kidd, V Barrio Frojan, A Sherry-Middlemiss 2, U18 coxed quad sculls T Robinson, K Tuikin, H McClintock, C Davison E MacGillivray 7, U16 double sculls J Yeoman and J Kidd 7, U17 single sculls T Robinson 8.
