“It felt like we peaked really well at this regatta ... being able to come back with three titles is pretty amazing. Whanganui High School has never done that before,” he said.
“I’m really proud of how broad the success was; we sent 28 crews and 25 have come back with medals.”
The title-winning boys’ under-17 doubles crew of Nicky Maxim and Joseph Dudson got revenge after falling short against Francis Douglas Memorial College last year.
“This year, they had an absolute blinder in the final and got the monkey off the back,” Dickinson said.
Dickinson said the winning under-16 girls’ quad had an “unstoppable” base rhythm to beat Cashmere High School over the finish line.
Whanganui High School's Nicky Maxim (left) and Joseph Dudson, with coaches Axel Dickinson and Alan Luff, won the under-17 boys' double. Photo / Sharron Bennett Photography
Dickinson said he was pleasantly surprised by several of his crews that finished on the podium.
“Usually, I am really critical of my job and what we could have done better,” he said.
“With this, it is the first time in a long time that I have finished the season and it feels complete and I’m content with it.”
WCS made nine A finals and won three silver medals, placing 17th equal overall.
The silvers came in the girls’ under-17 coxed four, boys’ under-16 coxed quad and boys’ under-15 coxed quad.
WCS head coach Tyler Scott was “really happy” with the efforts of his 30-strong crew.
“We made some really fast boats. Especially considering our small school roll ... our students punch well above our weight,” Scott said.
Three WCS crews placed fourth in their respective A finals, which Scott said was “always hard” to miss out on a medal.
“But knowing that all three were in women’s under-18 sweep [events], which was the toughest category, is somewhat of a reprieve,” he said.
Scott said the Whanganui region was “making a real mark on NZ secondary school rowing at the moment”.
Eight athletes from WCS and WHS have earned Rowing New Zealand trials for their age groups.
The triallists from WHS are Maxim and Dudson.
WCS’s triallists are Eva van der Zouwe, Ottalie Morrah, Alex Pedley, Ruby Horner, Alex Dreyer and Sophie Duncan, who is still in the under-15 category.
WCS master in charge/manager of rowing Gus Scott said the selection of the six triallists from WCS was the “icing on the cake” for a successful campaign.
Fin Ocheduszko Brown is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.
