McBride came second in her semifinal in the girls under-17 single sculls in 8min 54.60sec to put herself into medal contention for the final of the national secondary schools championships.
She then teamed with Hannah Duggan to win her semifinal in the girls under-15 double sculls in 8min 22.41sec.
Both girls are aged 14 and are in their first year of rowing. It was a tribute to their coach John Parnell to lift the girls to this standard in such a short time.
The Wakatipu High School pairing of Kelby Buchanan and Veronica Rotman finished second in the same heat in 8min 32.95sec.
The Dunstan combination of Caitlin Lowe and Leah Morait won their semifinal of the girls under-16 double sculls in 8min 08.06sec from the Wakatipu combination of Jordan Howell and Kate Bradford.
Saacha Bruce (Mt Aspiring) won her semifinal in the girls under-17 single sculls in 8min 56.01sec.
She also qualified for the A final when finishing second in the under-18 girls single sculls.
The St Kevin's College crew finished second in the semifinals of the girls under-16 coxed four to advance to the A final.
The blustery weather again played havoc with the racing programme, with delays because of the strong winds and rough conditions.
The officials were forced to reduce some of the semifinal races to 1000m because of the conditions.
The finals are scheduled today and there is a reserve day tomorrow, if it is needed to complete the regatta.
