1988 Maadi Cup Boys coxed eight, won by Christ’s College with Auckland Grammar finishing second.<\/p>\n
The appeal against the result has come from some (not all) of the 1988 Auckland Grammar crew \u2013 but is not from the school itself. <\/p>\n
\u201cAuckland Grammar School is focused on education, and we value sport as an extracurricular activity,\u201d Auckland Grammar School headmaster Tim O\u2019Connor said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not seeking to relitigate any historic sporting results, including the Maadi Cup. Auckland Grammar School fully supports Rowing NZ in its provision of the sport to secondary school students across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
The race on Lake Ruataniwha, near Twizel, was the showpiece event at the 1988 regatta and featured a strong showing from Whanganui Collegiate. <\/p>\n
The request asked \u201cwhether Rowing NZ would consider reopening or investigating the result\u201d of that race. <\/p>\n
\u201cRowing NZ has declined, noting it would be impractical to revisit or investigate a school rowing result nearly 40 years after the event,\u201d Rowing NZ chief executive Simon Wickham said. <\/p>\n
The complainants have asked Rowing NZ to reconsider the decision at its next AGM.<\/p>\n
The final strokes of the 1988 Maadi Cup Boys coxed eight. The result of the race is now being disputed by some members of the Auckland Grammar crew.<\/p>\n
An account of the race featured on Auckland Grammar Rowing\u2019s page in 2019. It was titled, Maadi Cup \u201988: Flashback from the #4 seat. <\/p>\n
\u201cAt the 500m mark I was breathing heavily, feeling smooth and controlled. At this point all the crews were still even, with Collegiate and Christ\u2019s perhaps edging us by a few feet. <\/p>\n
\u201cAt the 1000 mark we took the lead by a canvas but Christ\u2019s College pulled this back and took us. We responded by taking the lead again. <\/p>\n
\u201cSuddenly it was 300m to go. The boat felt heavy and slowed as the crew tired. Christ\u2019s went into their final sprint. We couldn\u2019t match them and faded badly in the last 10 strokes, surrendering almost a length. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs we rowed to the victory dais to receive the silver medal, I felt sick and empty. I knew we had rowed as well as we could have on that day, but still I felt the eyes of the people close to us showed their disappointment, no matter what came out of their mouths,\u201d reads the first-hand account. <\/p>\n
Christ\u2019s College headmaster Joe Eccleton told the Herald he was aware of the complaint and that it \u201cwas with Rowing NZ\u201d. <\/p>\n