Mayne man
Ted Mayne got to paint the Boss Rooster Avon red, but there was no first Red Coat for winning the Men’s Premier Four this year. Not enough entries.
He was called in to the boat last week for the injured Cody Johnson to row with Ben Taylor, Oli Welch and Zack Rumble.
Just winning in a boat like that was enough. If there was to be a Red Coat, he’d have to wait for the penultimate race on the final day of the 130th New Zealand Rowing Championships.
You’re going to give yourself a headache trying to explain the exact make-up of both fields in the Premier Eights. Draft boats, Regional Association crews, Club crews. But the upshot is 80 of the best rowers plus coxswains spread across 10 boats trying to row each other into the ground.
Ted was going to have to wait a few more hours to get that Red Coat.
The wait was over early into the race, Avon establishing a lead that looked unlikely to be overhauled, and they eventually crossed first in 5.48.78, over Waikato (5.51.86) and the Canterbury Association crew 5.59.54.
“It’s been a wee while in the making,” says Ted. “I’ve been in the Avon second crew for the last two years so getting on the other side of it has been pretty sick.”
Scott Shackleton and Henry Kirk also picked up first Red Coats.
Scott’s a descendant of the famous Ernest Shackleton who led the expeditions to the Antarctic. It’s at this point Scott’s tattoos get a second mention this week, inked on his arm is ‘By Endurance We Conquer’, the family motto.
It makes sense he’s rowing then.
Avon’s first crew in the Men’s Prem Men’s Coxed Eight, who crossed the line first in 5:48.78. Photo: Picture Show Ltd
Happy feat
Molly Nicol knew she had big shoes to fill.
On Thursday, she was also a late call-up into Waikato’s Premier Four after Kate Haines pulled out with illness.
She had a row in the boat early this morning. She had to put her feet forward a bit, but apart from that, the fit was just fine.
She had Ella Cossill behind her in bow seat offering a few quiet reassurances and had Alana Sherman and Isla Blake to follow up front.
“It felt unreal, especially when you’re rowing with girls like that. Obviously, they’re big names within Rowing New Zealand and I was just trying to stay calm and do what I can do.”
Her Waikato crew won in 6.44.89 over the Waikato Development boat in 6.49.87.
And like Ted Mayne, the two-boat field meant there were no Red Coats awarded. She would also have to wait for the Premier Eight.
Waikato got the job done in 6.32.29, ahead of an Avon draft crew (6.33.98) and Avon club boat (6.36.83).
That meant first Red Coats for cox Bradley Kingma, his first ever gold medal in six years of rowing, Waikato club co-captain Frances Casey…and Molly.
“Unreal, I remember my first Nationals back in 2021 seeing Phoebe Collier get a Red Coat. She was my doubles partner at RPC and I was like, ‘I want one so bad one day, so to get one’s unbelievable.”
Mollie Nicol from Waikato Rowing Club (front row, second from left) is wearing her well-deserved redcoat for her win in the Premier Women’s Eight. Photo: Sharron Bennett Photography
The magic
You can never get tired of trying to figure out how two crews can go head-to-head for six minutes in a fast moving eight and be separated by just 0.06 seconds at the end.
Waikato and Avon put on the magic show on just the second race of the final day of racing at the 130th New Zealand Rowing Championships on Lake Karapiro.
North Shore were early leaders but were picked up by first Waikato and then Avon just through the 1250m mark. Avon had the bow out in front by centimetres at 1750 but Waikato didn’t buckle.
“Pretty safe to say we got pummelled in that final,” says George. “That was a very fast Avon eight but our race just didn’t really go to plan. We came off the water pretty gutted with how we performed so this year it was just about redeeming ourselves.”
It was a big redemption row for bowman Charlie Moon and cox George Mackintosh, who were in the boat last year that finished sixth, 15 seconds behind winners Avon.
The photo finish of the Club Eight final with Waikato getting the surge ahead of Avon.
Go Bulldogs
When co-captains Veronica Wall and Eva Hofmans saw the draft picks for their Premier Quad, they knew Star sculler Sophie Jones, who’s only just finished Wellington College, was going to fit right in.
Veronica graduated from Yale in the US in 2023. Eva finished last year. Sophie’s heading there in August.
Two new Red Coats in the bow. For Sophie, it’s a catapult into a whole new level of rowing that the draft can throw at you. For Holly, who was with the NZ Coastal team at Beach Sprint Worlds just a few months ago, it’s an achievement she thought may be out of reach.
“The feeling once we knew we’d crossed first was incredible,” says Holly. “I didn’t think I’d ever be able to say that I’d won a Premier event. I’ve always looked up to people who get a Red Coat so it’s pretty cool to be there as well.”
That wasn’t the end of Holly’s winning day. She took out the Senior Single in 8.17.80, ahead of Waikato’s Tegan O’Dwyer (8.22.84) and Dunstan’s Isla Westlake (8.25.16).
That was Isla’s second bronze after finishing third in the Club Single, and winning a silver in the Intermediate 1X as well. Pretty good for a Novice grade rower.
Draft Women’s Premier Coxless Quad Sculls winners Eva Hofmans (stroke) Veronica Wall, Holly Chaafe and Sophie Jones. Photo: Picture Show Ltd
The Last Word
Ivan Docherty’s not one of those jump-up-and-down guys. He was quietly absorbing the moment and enjoying the excitement his Oamaru Novice Eight were feeling as they crossed the line to win the title two years in a row.
“Just pride, mate. Pride. I knew they’d done the work, and if you do the work it gets to days like this and good things happen to those who put themselves out there.”
Don’t underestimate the effect something like this can have on a place like Oamaru.
“We’re only a town of 13,000 but you start building a wee bit of success and a culture that people want to be involved in and it just builds from there, and I think we’ve got that going on with the Oamaru club at the moment.”
AH: “What was the last thing you said to your crew before they went out Ivan?”
“I just said, ‘Hold your nerve, you’ve done the work. I’m pushing you off now. I can’t do anymore for you. It’s about you and it’s always been about you.’
“And they went out there and owned it.”
Oamaru make it two years in a row in the Women’s Novice Eight. Photo: Sharron Bennett Photography
Andy Hay is a freelance producer, writer and Maadi Cup-winning coach. He was cox of the world champion New Zealand eight of 1982 and ’83. He is NZ Olympian #446.