2012 HBHS Maadi Cup Results

Gold Medalists and Cup Winners

• U-16 coxed four: Hamilton Boys’ High School (Theo Krielen, Caleb Loomans, Sam Macky, James Parton, c Hayden Shaw)
• U-15 coxed eight: Hamilton Boys’ High School (Matthew Thompson, Ryan Fenton, Thomas Williams, Thomas Beford, Tayne Tupaea, Matt Munro, Ben Goodson, Luke Feisst, c Ben McPherson)
• U-15 coxed four: Hamilton Boys’ High School (Matthew Thompson, Thomas Bedford, Thomas Williams, Luke Feisst, c Ben McPherson)
• Top Coxswain: Ben McPherson

The following is a extract of the speech by Glen Ross (TIC Rowing), delivered to HBHS during our whole school assembly to recognise the winners of National sporting titles on Wednesday 4 April.

… We have a proud history and we have worked hard at this school to position ourselves as one of the best rowing schools in New Zealand.  Our record in recent years has been second to none. The current competition is tough and the standard is very high.  At the Maadi Cup regatta last week, no boys’ school was able to win more than three titles.  Only HBHS and Auckland Grammar were able to do this, while major schools like Westlake, Kings, St Kentigern’s, Sacred Heart, St Paul’s and Wanganui Collegiate were unable to win a single event.

Today we celebrate the success of our team of 2012.  As these crews are presented, you will become aware of how some of our younger athletes were able to compete in older age groups with great distinction.  These young men have secured our future and their efforts will reap us much greater reward over the next two years.

A highlight of the event was the U-15 8 final.  These boys were up against an unbeaten Sacred Heart crew that had five boys on their boat who finished second to us at Karapiro last year.  At the North Island Championships we were six seconds behind them, but with two changes and a smart race plan, we finished six seconds ahead at Twizel.  This was a truly magnificent performance.
 

A second highlight was the Maadi Eight.  To put the effort of our Maadi Eight into perspective, most boys racing at this level would have raced four or five times during Maadi week.  We could have decided upon this approach too and focused on the age-group contests, or just on the Maadi Eight itself, to keep the workload to a manageable level.  However, we chose the more difficult challenge of attempting to have a competitive presence is all age groups.

To do this, we had to spread our young talent up into the older age groups, which meant that most of our Maadi crew had to race between 10 – 12 times during the week.  In addition to this, these boys lost Tom Healey, one of our best rowers, who broke his leg in the lead up to this regatta.

When these boys headed to the start of the Maadi Cup final last Saturday afternoon on Lake Ruataniwha, they were spent.  They had given their all during the week, but they were pumped.  The setting was brilliant; fine and blue, with some 10,000 spectators lining the bank.  It was a sight seldom seen in secondary school sport.

During the race, the effort from this crew was brave and they looked good, finishing a very close and creditable fifth.  That truly reflected the pride and passion that not only these boys have, but the entire squad has had in their team and in their school.
 

Congratulations, men and well done.

Next term, we begin our recruitment for 2013.  The next few years promise a great deal and we are all excited by this prospect as we look forward to the new season.
Thank you.