SMC Rowing

Rowing at SMC has a long and proud history. This year we had a strong interest from the first have-a-go day in September when we welcomed 15 new rowers to our team. We also had healthy numbers across all our age groups, taking a team of 49 rowers to the Maadi Regatta. This year we also welcomed back our exchange students from St Margaret’s Girls School Brisbane. This is a fantastic opportunity for students in Year 10 from both schools to row in another team and experience rowing in another country. We were very proud of our results at the Maadi regatta - 1 Gold, 6 Silver and 1 Bronze. We are currently ranked 2nd girls’ school and 3rd school overall in New Zealand.

All of these achievements would not have been possible without the support of our sponsors, parents, the school community and our fantastic coaching staff. We are extremely fortunate to have a highly experienced coaching and management team. Four of our staff have had international rowing experience.

Coaches are Ian Smallman, Holly Greenslade, Chris Everitt, Sarah Lindley, Stella Blake, Sophie McCartin and George Keys, who is also our Boatman. Other school staff that support the team are Alicia Davis - Assistant Manager/Food, Sarah Smallman - Athlete Support Manager and Trudy Keys - Rowing Manager. Outside school support is provided by Gill Blackler Catering Co-ordinator, John Quinn - Mental Skills, Greg Thomson - Strength and Conditioning and Jo Batchelor - Physiotherapist.

We are fortunate to have a top quality fleet of boats and equipment. As we train on the Waimakiriri River it is important that we have safe and reliable safety boats. Our fleet of six safety boats is constantly being used over the summer months and some of these are 12 years old and in need of replacement. This season through sponsorship and fundraising we were able to add to our rowing fleet with a new coxless four and an additional pair/double. We were also able to cover the short fall from insurance in the replacement of our coaching boat trailer.

We are extremely grateful to our generous sponsors who, through their donations, enable us to keep our plant updated. Past and present parents have worked hard over the years to ensure our boat replacement plan is able to be continued. A massive thank you to all SMC rowing partners whose generous support helps the girls perform as best as they possibly can.

We would also like to thank the leaders of our various parent groups who have worked tirelessly behind the scenes: Victoria Gibbons for her incredible work in finding and securing sponsorships, and along with Victoria Rookes, organising the annual Oarsome O’Fare fundraising event. This requires many hours of work behind the scenes. We would also like to thank the organisers of our other fundraising events - Nikki Tod, Sarah Howard and Rhonda Gooding (Wine and Gin Fundraiser) and Vanessa Coughlan and Sarah Cassidy for our Annual Quiz Night at the Elmwood Trading Co.

Thanks to David Gibbons for his financial expertise in looking after the fundraising finances and providing the parent rowing community with up-to-date financial information.

Thanks also goes to Matt Donaldson for ensuring that the parents trailer made it to the various regattas and for coordinating a team to erect the various tents. Also, thanks to Sam Broomhall for the hours spent organising the towing of various trailers to camps and regattas.

Sam also secured a tow vehicle for the boat trailer. We really appreciate the effort he went to ensuring that we had a vehicle. We thank him immensely for providing a Thinkwater vehicle to get the boats to the Maadi Regatta.

The recovery tent is an important part of our boat park set up and we thank Sarah WIlson, Carolyn Leeson and Shelley Jackson for their hard work in ensuring that this tent was well organised and fully stocked to support the girls after their races.

We thank Alison Farrell for her many years of service as our Social Co-ordinator. From creating and publishing the parents handbook to organising the social events at the regattas and the Maadi Regatta, we have been really fortunate to have a friendly face that could offer advice and answer any questions. Thank you Alison for the many hours of hard work you have put into this role.

Many of these parents have daughters who are graduating this year. We thank them for the countless hours of service and support they have given to the programme. The input they provide ensures the continued success and development of the SMC Rowing Team.

We are extremely fortunate to have such a dedicated team of parents and supporters, generous sponsors and highly experienced staff. Together we all achieve great things for SMC Rowing.