Two weekends ago they won eight golds, seven silvers and five bronzes at the South Island secondary schools regatta on Twizel’s Lake Ruataniwha to become the first school to win the Bell Points Cup three years running.
And at last year’s Maadi, also on Lake Ruataniwha, Wakatipu High claimed the prestigious ‘President’s Scull’, as best sculling school, for the third year in a row with two golds, three silvers and a bronze — sharing their latest triumph with Christchurch’s Cashmere High.
Wakatipu’s sending 41 students to Karapiro, by far the largest contingent they’ve ever sent to the North Island, at a cost of about $80,000, plus food.
"The reason it’s so big this year is the large intake of novices and the very high quality of those athletes," says Amy Wilson-White, who’s president of the Whakatipu Rowing Club which delivers the school’s rowing programme.
Asked if the school’s recent Maadi successes adds pressure, high-achieving year 13 rower Lucy Clark says "I feel like the more relaxed everyone is, the more fun they’re having, the easier it is to do better."
Fellow rower McKellar Thornton, who’s also head boy, adds: "It’s important it stays as an achievement and not an expectation.
"I like how it develops me as a person, the discipline it gives me and the connections we make through rowing."
