Whakatane High School’s rowing brotherhood

It will be a family affair when three brothers row in the same boat for Whakatane High School at next week’s Maadi.

The Jenkins brothers, Lenny, 17, and twins Elliot and Finn, 14, hope to compete for  gold in the U17 coxed quad sculls along with David Beukes, 17, and coxswain, Bleyne Herberly, 15.

The trio placed first at the North Island Secondary School Championships in this event and, with their current short and sharp training, there could be a repeat.

Whakatane High School’s teacher in charge of rowing Lena Cassidy-Clark, said this year is the last the brothers will compete alongside each other.

“It’s such a special family occasion this year … So special the grandparents are being flown up to watch from Queenstown. The brothers are all such awesome young men, they get on really well,” she said.

With seven medals in the bag from the North Island Championship, Cassidy-Clark said  the rowers will take self-belief, training, dedication, and  race knowledge into next week.

“Rowing at secondary school level is super competitive. All schools are training long and hard. It is top class to bring seven medals home from North Islands especially when we are competing against some big schools that have large rowing squads,” Cassidy-Clark said.

The boys normally do 11 sessions a week, four in the gym (1-2 hours) and the remainder on the water clocking up kilometers and working on technique.

This week they have six on-water sessions planned before racing starts on Monday.

“The school and the rowing club are very proud of the boys and their efforts. The coaches, Graham Watt and Matt Hill, have done a tremendous job with the boys and their results.”