Young Dio squad taper off for Maadi Cup week

Waikato Dio are taking a youthful squad to the national secondary school rowing championship, with 95 percent under 16.

The girls train five times a week and leading up to the regatta they have trained twice a day. In the last week, they have tapered off their training in preparation for the Aon Maadi Cup.

Head coach Gary Robertson said they were hoping to have more girls committing to the sport long-term.

 “Hopefully we can encourage them to stay on three to four years,” Robertson said.

Another of Waikato Diocesan coach Richard Coventry said that with less intense training over the last week the girls have been “really chipper.”

Coventry said the times they expect from the girls vary depending on the weather and the crew combinations. However, for the eights they would be aiming for 7-7.30 minutes for the 2000m race.

 “They push each other along,” Coventry said. 

Coventry’s daughter Mia Coventry is in the under-15 Dio rowing crew.

Mia was part of the crew that won gold it the novice women’s division for the North Island Club Champs this year.

Dio old girl Lucy Wilshier rowed for Dio for four years and has coached them for three. 

She was part of the under-18 eights crew that won the national title in her last year of rowing, in 2011.

Wilshier looks forward to what the girls will bring to their races after a full-on season.

“We have a pretty young squad so I think they’ve stepped up quite a lot this season,” Wilshier said. 

“It might sound really clichéd but I really do just want them to do their best, ” she said. 

“The girls have trained really hard so whatever we do will be reflective of our training.”

Wilshier said balance can be hard for the girls over their first year of rowing.

 “We try to warn them about the work that they have to do over summer. And some of them get it and some of them don’t,” she said.

“Some of them learn the hard way, some of them learn the easy way.”

Wilshier said that even at a hyped-up event such as the Maadi Cup, the girls’ focus is the race rather than the socialising you might expect from young girls. 

“It’s definitely hard for them…Interaction is kind of secondary,” Wilshier said.

“And I think it’s the same for everyone because of how much work they put in.” 

Olivia Morgan, the only under 18 in the team, is the team captain.

At first it was strange being the oldest and a leader of the squad. 

“You get used to it,” Morgan said. 

Morgan jokes that they didn’t have much choice of a team captain which is why she was chosen. 

Wilshier disagrees. 

“She does a really good job at pulling everyone together,” Wilshier said. 

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