Samuel Marsden rowers thrive in windy conditions

Samuel Marsden Collegiate School from windy Wellington has had a stronger than expected start to the Maadi Regatta. 

According to the team this is the most successful regatta they have competed in for a long time.

The school has 330 students at secondary level and only 15 rowers.

Coach David Carr-Smith said “We’re doing well, better than before.”

Yesterday they celebrated a win in the under 18 girls’ double sculls quarter finals.

Rower, Beatrice Hooper, said “He [Carr-Smith] was so happy yesterday that he skipped to meet us at the finish line”.

They also got three other placements despite an unexpected switch with the boats. The team had to give a boat to one of the other three schools from the club that they share boats with. They were left with about 30 seconds to get another boat rigged. Cox, Grace Habershon said “it was like a pitstop”.

Although they have had difficulty with their boats, Samuel Marsden rowers have some advantages over the other teams.

The strong wind which has temporarily paused the event has not phased their crew at all. Carr-Smith said “we’re from windy Wellington, we’d happily race in these conditions”.

In addition to this, Beatrice said, they’re used to rowing in crowded waters since they’ve had as many as 200 dolphins and a few whales swimming alongside them as they trained for Maadi.”There was swarms of dolphins and whales… and we got chased by a seal once,” she said.

The small team are excited to be doing well in the regatta and hope to continue with their success for the remainder of the week.