Photo by Brittany Fowler.Ashburton College Year 13 student Brittany Fowler is combining her passions for equestrian and photography and has just returned from the Land Rover Horse of The Year show where she was an official photographer.

Brittany snapped 3368 photos at New Zealand’s premier equestrian competition and is one of the event’s youngest ever official photographers.

She said attending Horse of The Year had been a great experience.

“It was great to meet and work alongside well known North Island photographers.

“I did work long hours, waking up at 7am and working until around 6.30pm each day, with only a 30 minute break in between, but it was worth it.”

Sorting and editing had kept her up until 3am some days as well.

The 17-year-old remembers snapping her first photograph of a sunset six years ago and has been photographing equestrian and other subjects since.

“Horses have always been a big part of my life.

“I started riding when I was eight and got my first horse at the end of 2013.

“I’ve been competing since the age of nine and in all disciplines, including dressage, showjumping, eventing and showing.”

This season her focus had been on eventing, she said.

In recent months Brittany has also taken horse photos at the South Island Premier Championships Show, NZ Show Horse Council and South Island Welsh Show.

With that experience behind her, she was invited by a showing friend to cover Horse of The Year and jumped at the opportunity.

Good equestrian photos needed the right light and bright sunny days usually worked well, said Brittany.

Having a clear background so the photo wasn’t distracting, and a focus solely on the horse and rider or handler, was also important.

She also looked for the right amount of space around the outside of the picture, more space at the top, less on the bottom and depending which way the horse was facing, there needed to be space in front and less behind.

Brittany Fowler is currently catching up on school work after completing her dream photography assignment and after a busy few weeks.

She is looking to study agricultural science at Lincoln University next year.

By Mick Jensen © The Ashburton Courier - 21 March 2019

Matthew Scammell was second in the Year 12/13 boys’ championship at the Ashburton College swimming sports on Monday. Photo Robyn HoodRecords tumbled when swimmers converged on the EA Networks Centre pool for the annual Ashburton College swimming sports on Monday.

The day didn’t get off to the best start, with a glitch in the electric timing system meaning those running the event had to revert to manual timing for the first time in four years, but once the action got under way, thanks to a diligent team of students lending a hand, it all went swimmingly.

There were some dominant performances by swimmers across all age groups, but the performance of the day was that of Year 9 student Hannah King. She won five events, claiming five new records along the way, to take out the Year 9 girls’ championship.

Not to be outdone though, Logan Scammell also won five events to take out the Year 9 boys’ championship title.

Crystal Bentley won the Year 10 girls’ championship by taking out four events, including a record-breaking effort in the 50m breaststroke, while Jesse Martin won the title for Year 10 boys with five event wins.

Low numbers in the Year 11 age group did not detract from some strong performances.

Despite the lack of competition, Blake Farr smashed the record in the 100m freestyle (previously set by Jared Scammell in 2017) by more than two seconds.

Farr’s new time of 55.74 seconds was the fastest time for the 100m freestyle across all age groups, and it helped him to win the Year 11 boys’ championship, while Marlese Schoonderbeek was relatively unchallenged on her way to taking out the Year 11 girls’ championship.

Kelly-Anne Bentley won three events on her way to taking out the Year 12/13 girls’ champion title, although she faced a strong challenge from Grace Adams who won the 100m breaststroke and was placed in four other events.

For the Year 12/13 boys, the champion was Josh Giles who won five events and claimed two new records in the 50m and 100m freestyle.

Jay Martin and Matthew Scammell fought hard for the runner-up tag with Scammell narrowly in front at the end.

Ashburton College also introduced three races for swimmers with disabilities this year, and the youngest swimmer – Cody Robin – left all challengers in his wake to win the 25m freestyle and 25m backstroke.  Only Anthony van Asperen was able to keep the youngster in check, narrowly beating him to win the 25m breaststroke.

No new records were set in the day’s relay events, although Green House was just 0.09 seconds shy of the record in the senior boys’ freestyle relay.

The House Championship 8 x 25m relay was won by Orange House in fine style, but overall bragging rights on the day belonged to Red House, by just five points, from Blue House.

© The Ashburton Guardian - 21 March 2019

Photo Robyn HoodProspective new rowers turned out in big numbers to an open day put on by the Ashburton College Rowing Club at the weekend.

The open day attracted 18 possible new rowers, who were all put out on the water in one of the club’s quad boats, and some tested their skills on some of the ergs indoors, too.

With the first open day of the season done and dusted, Ashburton College rowers are now turning their attention to the national secondary schools’ rowing regatta – the Maadi Cup – which will get under way at Lake Karapiro in the Waikato on Monday.

© The Ashburton Guardian - 20 March 2019