All three Oamaru high schools had crews competing at the South Island Secondary Schools Rowing Championships on Lake Ruataniwha last weekend.
Combined, they featured in 14 A finals and brought home a medal count of one gold, two silver and one bronze.
Waitaki Boys’ High School was the most successful of the three.
Shaun Lucey and Ike Newlands-Carter won gold in the boys’ under-18 novice double sculls before teaming up with Samson Isbister, Cash Paterson and coxswain George Smith to claim silver in the boys’ u18 novice coxed four.
The school’s u18 coxed quad sculls crew of Ned Newlands-Carter, Lachlan Wright, Stuart Isbister, Jett Rogers and coxswain Smith also secured bronze.
For St Kevin’s College, Kouper Lynch and Patrick Spillane gained silver in the boys u18 double sculls.
While the rowers are competing for their schools, they still train under the Oamaru Rowing Club.
Coach Shane Carter said they had to reshuffle the crews that had rowed together for the club season to accommodate the schools.
The South Island regatta was the end of the season for the majority of their squad as only 12 rowers were selected to compete at the Maadi Cup later this month.
"To those that have finished, they’ve done an extremely good job," Carter said.
"[They were] dedicated, resilient and have learned a lot throughout the season."
For those making the trip to Cambridge, getting time on the water with their new crewmates will be crucial, he said.
"We’re training twice a day now, so we’re training in the mornings and the afternoons.
"We’ve got a camp this weekend in Twizel for those 12 rowers that are going and they’re all working extremely hard to be in the best shape they can for Maadi."
