Rowing: Holding back on speed work key to gold for Hawke's Bay novice boys eight

The national championship-winning Hawke's Bay Rowing Club novice boys eight crew and coaches. Photo/Warren Buckland

Quiz coach Jeremy Coxon on the keys to his Hawke's Bay Rowing Club's novice boys eight's gold medal effort at the national champs and he's quick to reply.

"Holding back on the speed work and plenty of competition for berths as we had 18 rowers battling for the eight spots."

The crew of Jasper Wallace, Felix Lawson, Henry Windhager, Jack Cooper, Rhett Mulinder, Ben Hansen, Cameron Jaques, George Perwick and cox Francis Rainbow finished ahead of Waikato and Petone in their final at the five-day Lake Karapiro-hosted nationals which finished on Sunday.

Coxon, who coached the eight with Mike "Trout" Trautvetter and Simon Lack, pointed out the eight hadn't done a lot of speed work leading up to last month's North Island champs where they finished third.

"Speed work was a big focus for us after the North Islands and that sharpened us up before the nationals. Other crews tried to stay sharp all the way through."

Coxon has coached novice crews at the club for five years and he said there is plenty of potential in this eight.

"If you go fast in your novice year you keep going fast and stay in the game. Some people are late starters, others are early ... these are early ones and I have no doubt some of them will go on to represent New Zealand in the future.

"All three of us coaches had input into the selection of the top eight and we got the best crew on and off the water."

Coxon and his fellow coaches were thrilled with how easily the national champions combined considering they came from four different schools - Lindisfarne College, Havelock North High School, St John's College and Napier Girls' High School.

Long-serving coach Trautvetter was also impressed with the high commitment levels.

"We've had crews with the same amount of potential as this lot in the past. But it's the way they have committed themselves to the campaign which resulted in them returning home with gold."

Wallace, Lawson, Windhager and Cooper and cox Kobe Barry won silver in their novice coxed four final when they were beaten by Waikato. They had won bronze at the North Island champs.

Coxon was rapt with the manner in which eight of the nine rowers who missed out on the top eight combined to finish fourth at the nationals.

Lindisfarne College year 10 student Wallace, 14, pointed out the crew's quality rather than quantity approach to trainings paid off.

"At the peak of our training schedule we trained on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and Saturday and Sunday mornings. We benefited from our coaches' commitment and ability to communicate well."

It soon became obvious Wallace was just as good with his public relations skills for the club as he is with his rowing skills.

"If you want to join and you're committed and eager for a good time check out the club's website. We're always on the hunt for new members. And if there are any businesses who want to sponsor us there are opportunities for that too."

Last night the national champions were back out on the water training again. Most of them will be in action at the North Island Secondary Schools championships at Lake Karapiro on March 3 and 4 and, depending on their results, they could be competing at the Maadi Cup national secondary schools regatta in Twizel from March 19-24.

This is the biggest national secondary schools sporting event with 2200 competitors.
Hawke's Bay's other gold medal at the nationals was won by Gavin Foulsham who took out the para singles 1000m race in 4m58.27s.

Hawke's Bay club member Giacomo Thomas, who also represents the Auckland Regional Performance Centre, was selected to attend the elite national selection trial at Lake Karapiro from Saturday until the following Thursday. Former Hawke's Bay club members Ed Laver, Hannah Bailey and Tom Mackintosh were selected to attend the March 3-8 national under-23 trial at Lake Karapiro.

Laver and Mackintosh row for the Canterbury club and represent the Southern Regional Performance Centre while Bailey represents the West End club and Auckland Regional Performance Centre.