Photo supplied.Maadi Cup 2018 might be over, but three Ashburton College rowers are continuing to hit the water in pursuit of higher honours.

Gold medallists Veronica Wall and Mollie Gibson have earned trials for the New Zealand team that will compete in the Junior World Rowing Championships in Racice, the Czech Republic, in August. Emma Stagg was also part of the medal-winning quad crews and has earned a trial for the South Island under 18 team.

The trials will be held later this month, at Lake Karapiro for the juniors and Lake Ruataniwha for the under 18s.

The entire Ashcoll rowing squad was back at school this week to catch up on a week’s schoolwork, but to also take possession of a new skiff gifted by long-time Maadi sponsor Aon and boat-builder Laszlo Boats.

In a first-time venture at the regatta, the two companies awarded the winners of the under 17 boys and girls singles a boat and a set of sculls.

Gibson won the girls race in outstanding fashion, despite not being at peak health because of a cold bug that was affecting some members of the squad.

With four A finals, it was a big last day of the regatta and she now gets to row the new single, which stays with the school when she eventually leaves.

Boat-builders Laszlo Kertesz and Vera Bacsu were delighted to hand over the skiff, which weighs just 14kg and is made of the latest carbon fibre honeycomb. It retails for $12,000.

The pair are passionate about the sport and operate their business from Matangi, between Hamilton and Cambridge. Bacsu said they wanted to support the under 17 age-group as those rowers were starting to show the combination of their natural skills and training, and would still have another year to race the boat as under 18s.

They wanted all schools, regardless of the size of their rowing programme, to have the opportunity to benefit.

While the eight was prestigious in rowing circles, not all schools could muster those numbers, which is why they went with the single, she said.

The pair were at the Maadi regatta and delighted to see their boats in action by enthusiastic and talented rowers.

“Sometimes we work in the factory and we think of them on the water,” she said.

The boys’ boat went to John McGlashan College in Dunedin.

Aon Insurance has a 14-year relationship with the Maadi regatta and the company’s Ashburton branch manager Dave Sutherland said the joint partnership with Laszlo Boats to gift two skiffs had been a successful and rewarding experience. He hoped it would be repeated.

By Linda Clarke © The Ashburton Guardian - 28 March 2018