Student Report
On Saturday the 14th, the John McGlashan Rowing Squad headed down to the Harbour for the Otago Secondary Schools Regatta. The previous Harbour regattas had set the scene; with most crews raking in a placing of some sort. The first race of the day got of to a great start, with the U16 Quad backing up their win at the South Island Secondary Schools. The U15’s were then unlucky not to win their event but still managed a second. Later on consisted of the Senior Quad, also winning their event. Things were looking up.
Later on in the day, as the events changed from Sculling to Sweeping, the Otago Boys' crews came into their own, however, many of our crews still managed to pick up crucial points, which proved essential in the long run. It then changed to Sculling, this time small boats. The Johnnies Crews dominated these events, with it not being uncommon to gain the top two crews for these events. Woody Kirkwood, Tom Grave, Bradley Leydon and Ben Morris all showed they will be a force to reckoned with in the Single at the upcoming Maadi Cup.
All that was left was the Senior 8. Going into the race, the boys knew they had to pick up a placing in order to win the event. With the OBHS crew well ahead, it was between St Kevins and us. Pulling a sprint at the end just edged a 2nd, and with that, John McGlashan’s first win of the Regatta ever. Previously dominated by OBHS for 46 years, the boys proved themselves and showed the quality of ALL of the crews, even those not in the #1 crews. All in all it was a great effort, and a achievement and honour in securing the George Thorn Cup. Lets hope we can retain it next year.