Story courtesy of College Sport Media

The mornings are dark, and the nights are closing in, which for most means the start of the winter school sports season is just around the corner.

But not for last week’s New Zealand Secondary Schools Maadi Cup rowing regatta Girls U18 Single Sculls champion and her U18s Double Sculls gold winning medal partner, who are back hard at training ahead of the New Zealand Junior Trials in the school holidays later this month.

For Emma Bagrie and Ella Barr, it’s a continuation of the hard work, focus and discipline that netted Emma two gold medals and Emma and Ella gold together in the doubles and silver with three of their Wellington Girls’ College teammates in the coxed fours on the water in Twizel over Summer Tournament Week.

“If selected, we are heading to Canada later this year for the U19 World Championships, so the continuation of our training after our big week down at the Maadi Cup regatta is worth it, “said Emma in conversation with College Sport Wellington.

Double gold medallist Emma went into the regatta with a cool head.

“I always try to keep my expectations low. I knew that with my results from the North Island Championships [first in the Single Sculls and first as part of WGC’s quad crew] that I knew I had the potential to get the medals that I got. But I didn’t want to put pressure on myself.”

Conditions were favourable. “The water was really nice in Twizel. For my other single races this season the water has not been great, so it was really nice to get some flat water for the final.”

It was a jam-packed week. “On Thursday I had three races all within two and a half hours of each other, so that was really close together and such tight turnarounds.”

On Friday morning, Emma and her year 13 teammate Ella Barr won the gold in resounding style in the U18 Double Sculls.

The pair won all three races on their way to the A final, which they won in 7:40.59, ahead of the second placed crew from Ashburton College in 7:48.20 and the third placed Cambridge High School in 7:53.21.

“We won by clear water, but it always feels much tighter. We made a good start and then had a good middle kilometre, where the races are often won or lost, and then the last 500m we brought it home – it all worked out in the end!”

On Saturday, Emma backed that up with a hugely impressive victory in the U18 Girls Single Sculls final.

Emma won all three races en route to the A final, where she finished first in a time of 8:01.05 ahead of Sophie Gibson from Ashburton College over 10 seconds back in 8:12.77 and Tegan O’Dwyer from Cambridge High School in 8:13.91.

“I had quite a slow start and everyone went out hard, and I knew that it was going to be close. It was in the second 500m that I pushed through to first and then through the second kilometre I held it there and came through to win.”

Emma and Ella also paired up to finish fifth in the U18 Girls Coxless Pair, also a satisfying result given some of the big rowing schools have more of a sweeping pedigree in the eights.

That is not all - Emma and Ella teamed up three school mates to win silver by a nose in the U18s Coxed Quad final.

After winning their heat and semi-final, the crew from stroke to bow of Ella, Emma, Annabelle Stirling, Sophie Jones (year 12) and cox Emily Mora, pushed hard for the gold in the A final, but were pipped by inside a second by the crew from Christchurch’s Cashmere High School, and with Ashburton College rowing on strongly just behind in third.

Emma described this event as no less satisfying as her personal triumph and win with Ella.

“The single is great, but it’s a lot better when you do it as part of a team.

“With the quad final our expectations were a bit lower because we knew it was going to be close, as all the times were similar going into it. We were really happy with second, even though it was unfortunate that we got pipped at the line.”

For Emma, this was her third Maadi Cup, winning the U17 pair and third in the U18 four, and struck down with Covid in 2022 whilst at the regatta so unable to continue beyond the first two days.

At this year’s Maadi Cup, there were multiple races throughout the week for the WGC crews, who are coached by 2023’s College Sport Wellington Coach of the Year Catherine Duffin

“She is an amazing coach; she is on to it in every aspect. It is not just rowing, it is the mental aspect of it and the organisation and everything off the water.”

There were also several other Wellington Girls’ College boats at Maadi Cup, with U15s and U16s rowing athletes also involved in several races.

The girls U15 Coxed Octuple Sculls placed sixth in their A Final, the Girls U16 Coxed Quad Sculls were fifth in their A Final and the Girls U16 Double Sculls were eighth in their A Final.

Emma started rowing at the end of year nine, coming off a competitive swimming background – a sport with similar parallels to rowing in terms of training and preparation.

If Emma is selected for the New Zealand Junior team, it will be her second successive trip overseas with this team having been part of the eights that finished fifth in Paris last August. 

Article added: Wednesday 03 April 2024