The squad of 16 athletes won six medals at the New Zealand Rowing Championships on Lake Karapiro last week.
That placed them as the 12th-most successful club out of 45 competing at the national regatta despite being one of the smaller squads in attendance.
The women’s novice crews led the way for the club accounting for four medals.
Grace Webster, Matilda Isbister, Summer Brosnan, Hunter McLay and coxswain Isla Kappely won gold in the women’s novice coxed quad sculls.
The four rowers then teamed up with Milly Paterson, Kaiah Rawson, Anabel King, Pippa McMillan coxswain Greer Dickson to win gold in the novice coxed eight.
Oamaru also had two crews finish on the podium in the women’s novice coxed four.
They rowed alongside Dunstan Arm Rowing Club duo Aidan O’Docherty and Boston Irving-Dowling in the men’s intermediate coxed quad sculls — which also included coxswain Dickson — and joined the Avon Rowing Club intermediate coxed eight.
Of the squad of 16, every rower competed in at least one final.
‘‘That was a real credit to the team,’’ head coach Ivan Docherty said.
He was incredibly pleased to see the women’s novice coxed eight blitz the A final to win gold.
‘‘From about 100m they started to nudge in front and never looked back from there and had quite a resounding win by about 9sec.
‘‘They were pretty wrapt with that.’’
He also said the women’s novice coxed sculls was ‘‘not an event that I can recall Oamaru winning for a long time’’.
The regatta was a fitting send-off to two of the club’s senior rowers Logan Docherty and Paddy Spillane who departed the club.
The rest of the squad will now swap out their yellow Oamaru club colours for their school colours as they prepare for the South Island secondary schools regatta next weekend and then end their campaign with the Maadi Cup next month.
