Rowing row to be settled out of court

Jordan Kennedy competes at the 2015 Maadi Cup on Lake Karapiro after a court injuction allowed him to row. Photo / Simon Baker

The high school rowing row will be settled out of court, one of the boy's parents said today.

St Bede's College students Jordan Kennedy, 16, and Jack Bell, 17, were dumped from the school's rowing team for breaching Auckland Airport security on Friday after riding the Jetstar carousel at the domestic terminal.

The school banned them from competing at the Maadi Cup regatta at Lake Karapiro, near Cambridge.

But the boys' parents were granted an urgent injunction from the High Court at Christchurch to allow their sons to row.

Justice Rachel Dunningham said the boys' parents had until 5pm today to file a formal statement of claim or else the interim injunction would be lifted.

Andrew Marsh, lawyer for the Kennedy and Bell families, suggested last night that legal action might not be required.

"We have been in discussions with the school and have applied to the court for a short extension of time to file the statement of claim to allow those discussions to continue."

Jordan Kennedy's father, Shane Kennedy, this afternoon said both parties were keen to resolve the issue before it went to court.

He said a statement from the families' lawyer would confirm their position.

"We are concentrating fully on finals time and that is where all of our energies are just now."

Mr Kennedy, who stepped down from his role as chairman of the St Bede's College Rowing Club after the legal action was launched, refused to comment whether it had been a distraction.

St Bede's College lawyer Andrew McCormick yesterday said both parties wanted a swift resolution.

"Nobody wants it dragging on. The school wants things to die down so the whole rowing team can focus on the best they can this week.

"It's been really disruptive up there, as you could imagine. All of the St Bede's kids are getting much more attention than they would otherwise."

However, the families' lawyer Andrew Marsh stopped short today of saying the issue would be resolved out of court.

"Our clients are in further discussions with the school and a short extension of time has been agreed by the court to allow those discussions to continue," he said.

"In the meantime, the parties have agreed that while those discussions are ongoing no further comment will be made by the parties."