Row, row, row your boat, gently down the ... school hall?
Logan Park High School's auditorium yesterday held 64 pupils taking part in the school's inaugural interhouse indoor rowing contest, plus noisy spectators.
Pupils were left gasping for air and flapping blistered hands after they had frantically rowed to beat each other and better the official times set by New Zealand rowers Mahe Drysdale and Emma Twigg in the 2000m at the 2012 Olympic Games.
Health, physical education and sport head of department Scott Bayne said the school recently bought state-of-the-art Concept D rowing machines, which via computer software let rowers to see their "boat" on a screen, its elapsed time and real-time racing position in the "regatta".
Pupils took turns to row 500m each in the 2000m races. One of the senior boys teams posted a time of 6:36.50, blitzing Emma Twigg's time of 8:01.76, and Mahe Drysdale's 6:57.82. Sharing the load certainly seemed to help.
Despite some unconventional rowing techniques and comparatively slower times, Mr Bayne said, no-one got wet.
"The great thing is, a benchmark has now been set and future pupils will aim to break the records."
The aim of the event was to increase pupil participation in physical activity while developing "house spirit" and stimulate an interest in rowing.
"We had 64 students rowing and about 250 in the auditorium screaming and cheering them on," a delighted Mr Bayne said.
