Estimating crowd numbers can be a fraught exercise unless you’re an expert like Mighty River Domain site manager Liz Stolwyk.
View from the top: the girls under 17 double sculls competitors, led by winners Dunstan High School of Otago, return to the jetty after the race. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Finals day for the Maadi Regatta on Saturday she put the numbers on the site as anything between 15,000 and 20,000.
“Depends how many people are stacked up in the vans,” she said less than an hour out from the main events – the finals of the girls and boys under 18 coxed races won by St Margaret’s College of Christchurch and Westlake Boys High School in Auckland.
St Peter’s won gold in the boys under 18 novice coxed quad sculls at the Maadi Cup regatta competed on Lake Karāpiro last weekend. Pictured celebrating were, from left, Mattias Everett, Bradley van der Bijl, Josh Garrett and Matt Carey and coxswain Jade Noonan. Photo: Picture Show Ltd
Cambridge-based St Peter’s School was the best of the Waipā schools celebrating a 1-2 finish in the boys’ novice under 18 coxed quads, with coxswains Jade Noonan and Sophie Sinclair leading both crews to gold and silver.
“It was so fun racing next to each other,” they said.
The school’s total haul was three golds, three silvers, and a bronze, while Cambridge High School picked up two medals: a silver in the under-16 double sculls with Lily Cameron and Cate Kuggeleijn, and a bronze for Lily in the single sculls.
Maiara Moimoi of Te Awamutu College grabbed second in the girls’ under-17 single sculls D final. Photo: Casey Lee Baker
Te Awamutu College performed solidly with no medals, but the highlight came from Maiara Moimoi and Tessa Chappell, who were first in the girls under 18 double sculls C final while Maiara was second in the girls under 17 single sculls D final.
A wrap of Waipā college results is below.
Stolwyk visited the Rangi Ruru Girls’ School contingent. The Christchurch school had two crews in the under-18 coxed eights Levin Jubilee Cup final, finishing third and sixth.
“What a dream come true for those girls,” said Stolwyk who had another mixed week. Fog delayed racing on two days, one of them for two hours. Finals day was perfect, races started at 8.23am and there were no delays.
Lake Karāpiro Domain manager Liz Stolwyk, left in high viz, with the Rangi Ruru team which had two crews in the under 18 girls’ coxed eight final. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Overflow parking at Maadi Regatta 2025. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Overflow parking on Maungatautari Rd, before the dip down to the domain, opened with park and ride in place.
“This is as many as I’ve seen here for Maadi,” she said, confirming there were 2236 competitors.
“The weather has been magnificent, when you don’t have wind, thunderstorms, heavy rain. You just have a hell of a lot of happy people.”
There were some hiccups, people backing into taps and transformer boxes, ice cream containers and vapes in the toilet and lots of bee stings.
“An unusually high number.”
A highlight was the volunteers’ dinner on Friday, where people from all over the country celebrated their involvement in the southern hemisphere’s largest secondary school event.
Newsreader Kay Gregory, who lives in Te Awamutu, has been announcing and presenting medal winners at the Maadi Regatta for 19 years and is pictured with the Maadi Cup.
There were other familiar faces around. Kay Gregory, journalist, former television presenter, and Hamilton city councillor, now a NewstalkZB news reader, marriage and funeral celebrant, was there presenting medals for the 19th year.
Now living in Te Awamutu and playing lots of golf “badly”, she started when her daughter was rowing for Waikato Diocesan School for Girls, and they were down in Twizel.
“I asked if there was something I could do, meaning shall I help make some sandwiches, and they said would I like to present the medals.”
And she has done it every year since.
She said 2025 was the busiest yet.
“The kids are fantastic, the sportsmanship is unbelievable, the parents are happy, and it seems like a happy place to be. It’s also good to see lots of older rowers back to watch.”
Former world champion rower Brenda Lawson water blasts a rowing boat at the Maadi Regatta 2025. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Older rowers like former world double sculls champion and Sports Hall of Famer Brenda Lawson, now a freshwater threats ranger for the Conservation Department. Pest weeds such as didymo, hornwort, egeria and now gold clams are on her hit list, so she was helping clean rowing boats before they left Karāpiro, particularly the ones heading back to the South Island.
King’s College of Auckland won the award for the best marquee display. Rowing committee member Emma Cleary said they started their planning months ago with the focus on the photo boards featuring crews from the 1950s.
King’s College Rowing committee member Emma Cleary in the school’s award-winning marquee at the Maadi Regatta 2025. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
King’s College of Auckland wins the under 15 boys’ coxed four despite Christchurch Boys High School supporters wandering into Lake Karāpiro to offer their support to their team which finished third at Maadi Regatta 2025. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
“We really went to town with our decorations. We went for the castle look. King’s, the crown, so that was our theme and a lot of florally things,” she said.
“We love coming to Cambridge, everyone loves Cambridge. We couldn’t ask for better people, a better community and better people. We loved everything, including the parade.”
As an example of the support they got, Oxford Clothing featured King’s in the shop window, visited them at Karāpiro and cheered the Auckland rowers on.
King’s College has a lock up in Cambridge it uses to store things away in during the year.
Stolwyk says events are often judged by three things. “Rubbish, toilets and the quality of food and we can tick all those boxes,” she said with a satisfied grin.
Crowds watch the competition on live stream screens dotted around the site at Maadi Regatta 2025. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
The Maadi Swapz (gear exchange) is always a highlight and from noon at the boat ramp it was all go as students bartered with each other. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Maadi placings:
Te Awamutu College
Girls – 2nd under-17 single sculls D final – Maiara Moimoi; 1st under-18 double sculls C final – Maiara Moimoi, Tessa Chappell.
Cambridge High School
Boys – 1st under-17 coxless pair oars B final – Kayden Simmons, Ben Gillanders; 2nd under-17 coxed quad sculls B final – Charlie Sampson, Jack Bacon, Kayden Simmons, Louis Steverson + Maddy Peacocke; 3rd under-17 coxed four B final – Charlie Sampson, Dylan Jackson-McClutchie, Jack Bacon, Louis Steverson + Maddy Peacocke; 2nd under-17 single sculls D final – Dylan Jackson-McClutchie.
Girls – 2nd under-16 double sculls A final – Lily Cameron, Cate Kuggeleijn; 2nd under-15 double sculls B final – Sienna Ropiha, Olive MacDonald; 3rd under-16 single sculls A final – Lily Cameron; 1st under-17 single sculls D final – Mackenzie Lawton; 3rd under-18 single sculls C final – Sienna Frethey; 3rd under-18 double sculls C final – Sienna Frethey, Millie Balsom.
St Peter’s
Boys – 1st under-18 novice double sculls A final – Josh Garrett, Matt Carey; 2nd under-18 novice double sculls A final – Mattias Everett, Bradey van der Bijl; 2nd under-18 novice coxed eight A final – Bradey van der Bijl, Matt Carey, Mattias Everett, Josh Garrett, Theo Anthony, Kieran Lawson, Oscar Duley, Nick Rothery + Jade Noonan; 1st under-18 novice coxed quad sculls A final – Mattias Everett, Bradey van der Bijl, Josh Garrett, Matt Carey + Jade Noonan; 2nd under-18 novice coxed quad sculls A final – Samuel Wilson, Andrew Harris, Kieran Lawson, Nick Rothery + Sophie Sinclair.
Girls – 1st under-18 double sculls A final – Molly McClintock, Olivia Henry; 3rd under-18 coxed quad sculls A final – Olivia Henry, Molly McClintock, Abby Wilson, Neve Watkins + Darcie Granwal; 3rd under-18 single sculls B final – Zoe Phillips; 1st under-18 coxed eight B final – Olivia Henry, Lily Gundesen, Caitlyn Silcock, Molly McClintock, Zoe Phillips, Abby Wilson, Kate Gardner, Lucy Crampton + Darcie Granwal.
In the tower, regatta officials watch as the girls under 17 double sculls B finalists cross the finish line. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
On top of the tower, Maadi Regatta controller Andrew Carr-Smith of Wellington, who developed the successful rowit.nz website in 2007 where all rowing results and live action feature, takes a break as the girls under 17 double sculls led by Dunstan High School, approach the finish line. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
King’s College of Auckland wins the under 15 boys’ coxed four despite Christchurch Boys High School supporters wandering into Lake Karāpiro to offer their support to their team which finished third. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Keegan Jordan of Te Awamutu College placed sixth in the boys’ under-18 D final. Photo: Casey Lee Baker
Hunter Coleman of Te Awamutu College during the under-17 C final. Photo: Casey Lee Baker
Maiara Moimoi (strokefront) and Tessa Chappell (bowback) of Te Awamutu College won the girls’ under-18 double sculls C final. Photo: Casey Lee Baker
Competitors relax between races in the Don Rowlands Centre at Lake Karapiro during Maadi Regatta 2025. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
The Maadi Swapz (gear exchange) is always a highlight and from noon at the boat ramp it was all go as students bartered with each other. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
