Southland girls commit to Maadi’s longest pull
You would have to have come from Stewart Island or the Chathams to beat the distance traveled to Maadi by the Southland Girls’ High School squad.
It is 1500 km (give or take a kilometer or two) from Invercargill to Lake Karapiro.
The Southland Girls’ High School rowing team know the distance well – they have travelled further than any other competitors to be at this year’s Maadi Cup.
Fortunately, the team of eight girls was able to fly up, but the boat transporters were left facing the long drive north.
Camp mother Debbie Smith said the girls are used to trekking around the South Island for regattas.
“We are use to going places, we’re four and a half hours from Lake Ruataniwha [the school’s practice water] as it is.”
Smith said her main focus is making sure the girls are being fed and looked after.
“My role entitles feeding them and making sure they’ve got plenty of fruit and veges.
“So no pudding allowed. Just fruit. [I also] make sure they get to sleep on time and make sure they don’t spend all night on their cellphones.”
Community fundraising and parental support, plus the use of club boats, helped make the trip possible.
Their main source of fundraising is the Corporate Eights event. This is where local businesses nominate eight people for the students to train, leading up to a final day filled with on-water and off-water competitions.
All boats used by the students are from the Waihopai and Invercargill clubs, with one other boat collected on the way up from Dunedin. These boats are shared with rowers of James Hargest College.
Rowing captain, Michaela Townshend is participating in her fourth, and final, Maadi.
“I won the U18 single heat, and we just won the U18 quad heat.”
From there, she will move onto the semi-final in the quad and a quarter-final in the single scull Wednesday.
The downside to the competition is missing a week of school, having already missed a week at the South Island Secondary School Champs.
“It’s good, but super stressful especially being in Year 13. It makes it hard to catch up.”
Overall, the goal for Townshend is to win a medal for her school and get a trial for the NZ Junior Rowing team.
