OBHS’ new head rowing coach gets stuck in

Otago Boys’ High School’s winning under-18 coxed quad crew of (back to front) Ben Mason, Thomas...
Otago Boys’ High School’s winning under-18 coxed quad crew of (back to front) Ben Mason, Thomas Ryan, Peter Rower, Henry Wilson take off from the start at the Otago rowing championships at Lake Ruataniwha last weekend. Photo: Sharron Bennett
Kirsty Dunhill has seen and done it all up north — now she is learning how rowing is done in the South.

Bringing 18 years of experience with her, she has taken the reins as Otago Boys’ High School’s new head rowing coach.

Coming off a successful season with St Peter’s College (Cambridge) — in which she coached the girls under-18 eight to gold at the Maadi Cup — she was not going to coach this season at first.

That followed years of coaching primarily boys’ schools’ teams.

Notable among those was coaching Hamish Bond in the New Zealand junior team, when he transferred to Auckland Grammar School briefly.

Kirsty Dunhill
Kirsty Dunhill
She spent time in other roles with Rowing New Zealand and worked alongside the likes of Mahe Drysdale and Emma Twigg.

On top of that she was the race commentator at Lake Karapiro for the past five years.

She moved south in April, with her two children, when her partner Matt got the director of boarding job at Otago Boys’.

The original plan was to settle first, but one thing led to another and she found herself coaching.

"Initially I was keen to have a season off just to settle the kids in — our kids are quite young, we’ve got a 5 and an 8-year-old," she said.

"Just to see how demanding Matt’s role was with the hostel — I didn’t want to commit too early.

"And I’ve always been a big believer of getting out when you’re on top, I wasn’t sure if I could repeat a win in the under-18 eight."

However, she was enjoying the new challenge.

One big difference was adapting to training on the Otago Harbour.

While at Lake Karapiro conditions were rarely an issue, wind was a major obstacle to getting on the water in Dunedin.

That meant limited on-water training time, particularly through November.

"I have found that a real challenge and I’ve found it a ... challenge that you’ve got to stay positive for the boys ...

"Just to make sure you’re not panicking, you’re staying calm, things are good.

"If it turns good now and it stays fine from January right through to March we’ll be fine."

The squad had 40 rowers this year and things were going well, considering the conditions.

Several wins and others good results at last weekend’s Otago championships were encouraging.

Dunhill had put an emphasis on recruiting more coaches, while the club’s committee had also chipped in to hire an extra four rowing machines.

That had helped, and she said the boys had great attitudes.

Last year the team had made 10 A finals at the Maadi Cup. Her goal was to turn those into more medals.

Another goal was to find more regattas for her boys.

In the North Island there were regattas at Lake Karapiro every fortnight, but they were less frequent in the South.

She was unsure how long she would be in the South for, although thought it would likely be a minimum of three to five years.

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