The final regatta of the season for half of the squad meant this regatta was extra special. This spurred on the rowers to achieve exceptional results once more.

The Columba rowers had their final full squad regatta last weekend in Twizel, at the South Island Secondary Schools' Championships. They had a very successful weekend, coming away with 11 crews in A finals and two in B Finals, taking home six medals by the conclusion of racing on Sunday.

Racing began on Friday afternoon with six Columba crews in their respective heats.

The U17 four was first with Millie Scott, Bridgette Sutton, Jendi Minty, Sara Reynolds and cox Isabella Davey. They placed second in their heat and qualified for the A final.

The next crew to race was the U17 quadruple sculls. This crew was made up of Laura Sammut, Millie, Bridgette and Jendi, again with Isabella as the cox. They had a very good second half of the race to finish second, also qualifying for the A final.

Maddy Sullivan and Izzy Gallagher then raced in the U18 pair, their first time racing this boat together. They had a good race to place 6th and qualify for the A Final.

Later on Friday, Columba had two crews in the Novice Double sculls - Grace Heath and Charli Sinclair, and Briar Duncan and Ciara Paterson. Due to wind, racing had been reduced to one kilometre, but the novice girls coped well in the rough conditions to place first and second in their heat.

Laura raced her single for the last race on Friday, again over one kilometre. She had a strong finish to come in third, only missing out on the A Final by one second.

Saturday was a busy day for the squad, with the remaining 11 heats in the morning, and the first few finals in the afternoon.

The U18 four of Maddy, Elyse Davey, Phoebe Wellstead and Izzy with cox Kate Baskerville were the first crew to race early on Saturday morning. They came out of the blocks strong to finish in 6th, automatically qualifying for the A final.

The U16 quadruple sculls of Grace, Bridgette, Jendi, Sara and Isabella were next. This was the crew's first time racing together. They placed second, qualifying for the A Final.

Columba then had two Novice quadruple sculls crews. The first crew consisted of Olivia Davies, Hannah O’Neill, Isla Nicholson, Bobbi Fleming-Wilson and cox Kate. This crew had some problems near the start, however, they did well to place seventh with only three rowers racing for the majority of the race. The second Novice quad of Grace, Charli, Briar, Ciara and Isabella won their heat convincingly to qualify for the A Final.

Millie and Bridgette then raced the U17 pair in very rough and windy conditions. They got out of the blocks ahead and rowed a tidy race, winning their heat and qualifying for the A Final.

Phoebe, Maddy, Elyse and Izzy, along with their cox, Isabella, raced the U18 quadruple sculls, placing sixth in their heat.

Laura raced in the U17 double with Taylor Anderson. They were racing well but, unfortunately, they tipped just after completing their first kilometre, coming back to shore with smiles on their faces.

Two Novice fours then raced, the first being Olivia, Isla, Grace and Bobbi, with Isabella coxing. The other four was Briar, Charli, Ciara and Hannah with Kate. Both fours placed second in their heats to qualify for the A Final.

The final heat for Columba was the U16 double of Sara and Jendi. They had a good race, placing third and narrowly missing out on the A Final.

Columba had five crews in four A Finals on Saturday afternoon. The first of these was the U17 four. They went in ranked fourth and had an amazing race right from the start, crossing the line third and winning a bronze medal.

Next was the U17 quad. The crew didn’t have the fastest first kilometre, but Laura picked up the pace in the second half of the race to pass a few crews and end up with a silver medal!

The U18 pair final was next, with Maddy and Izzy improving on their race the day before to finish sixth.

Grace and Charli, and Briar and Ciara had their Novice double sculls A Final next. Both crews had strong races, with Grace and Charli earning a bronze medal and Briar and Ciara coming in fourth.

On Sunday morning, Laura Sammut was the first race for the squad in her single. She raced better over the further two kilometre distance, placing second in her final.

The U18 four had their final race in Columba colours on Sunday morning, placing sixth in their A Final.

The next final was the U16 quad. The girls were happy with their race, coming off the water in seventh.

Grace, Charli, Briar and Ciara raced their quad next. They raced a tidy race and crossed the line in second, winning a silver medal.

The U17 pair A Final was next. Millie and Bridgette had another good race, coming down the course in front and earning their first gold medal!

The novices then raced their last races together for the season in two fours. Briar, Charli, Ciara, Hannah and Kate placed third, gaining bronze, and Olivia, Isla, Grace, Bobbi and Isabella placed eighth.

Columba’s final race of this regatta was the U16 double sculls. Jendi and Sara had a great race, coming in third in their final.

Last weekend was the final regatta of the season for our U15 rowers, as the decision was made by the NZ Rowing Association to restrict Maadi Cup to only allow Year 11,12 and 13 students. This meant that for some of our novice crews it was their last regatta together as they will move into age groups next season. We are so proud of everything these girls have achieved this season and can’t wait for them to come back better than ever!

We also sadly said goodbye to our four U18 leavers at the end of SISS. These girls have dedicated so much time and energy into the Columba Rowing Club and we are grateful for everything they have done for each of the rowers in the squad both on and off the water. We wish Maddy, Phoebe, Izzy and Elyse all the best for their futures, both in and out of rowing.