Rowing: Teens reaping golden reward for early starts

John Paul College rowers won gold and silver at the North Island Rowing Championships. Photo/Thinkstock

Getting up at 5am on a school day must seem pointless to most teenagers.

But for Connor Broughton and Andre Le Lievre, both 16, the early morning routine has led to a gold medal at the North Island Secondary School Rowing Championships.

The young athletes started rowing together two years ago and stepped up from the novice division this season.

The step up has been seamless for the talented pairing who have trained hard with the Rotorua Rowing Club, including early morning rowing sessions with coach Glen Reichardt.

The John Paul College duo won gold in the under-18 lightweight double sculls and silver in the under-18 coxless pair oars on Lake Karapiro during the North Island champs at the weekend.

Broughton said their coach had put a bit of pressure on them to do well, so it felt good to get the gold medal.

"We were just hoping for a medal but not too sure what colour it was going to be," he said after their win.

The pair said they felt relief after crossing the line first in the A Final, especially with their family and friends cheering them on.

Le Lievre said they hoped to repeat the success during the secondary school nationals, also known as the Maadi Cup regatta, at the end of the month in Twizel.

"Our goal is to try and repeat the success in the lightweight double sculls and get a medal in the other events."

The "other events" include the under-17 lightweight double sculls and the under-18 coxless pair oars.

Broughton and Le Lievre were the only rowers from Rotorua to pick up a gold medal at the weekend.

Other Rotorua schools competing included Rotorua Girls' High School, Western Heights High School and Rotorua Lakes High School.

Meanwhile, Whakatane High School will be confident of bringing home some medals from the Maadi Cup after a big effort at the North Island champs.

Brothers Lenny Jenkins, Elliot Jenkins and Finn Jenkins helped lead the school to six gold medals at the regatta.

Teacher in charge of rowing Lena Cassidy-Clark said the school was proud of the rowing team's achievements.

"They have done awesome ... the boys have continued to build on their success from last year," she said.

"They have been working their butts off and deserve the results."

The gold medal winning rowers were trained by Graham Watt and Karen Parcell at the Whakatane Rowing Club.

Rotorua Rowing Club coach Reichardt said the club would be taking a team of 51 rowers and coxen to the Maadi Cup at the end of the month.