A tribute to the success the rowing team from New Zealand experienced during their time at the Paris Olympic Games in 2024.
Video / NZ Herald
The future of Hawke’s Bay rowing – and possible future champions in New Zealand’s most successful Olympic Games sport – will be on display at the Bay’s annual regatta at Clive on Friday and Saturday.
Aspiring new rowers training at the Hawke's Bay Rowing Club beside the river at Clive, where the annual Hawke's Bay Cup regatta will be held on Friday and Saturday. Photo / Doug Laing
Six clubs, with close to 180 rowers, from Wellington, Hutt Valley, Whanganui, Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay, have entered the Hawke’s Bay Cup rowing regatta on Te Awa o Mokotūāraro (the Clive River). It is hosted by the club that introduced 21st-century Olympic Games gold medallists such as the Evers-Swindell sisters, Emma Twigg and Tom Mackintosh.
The success of the sport at last year’s Paris Olympics, including the finals placings of club members and single scullers Twigg and Mackintosh, has been followed by unprecedented growth in numbers at the Hawke’s Bay Rowing Club, which was established in 1876.
It was also a boon for the future of the sport, with High Performance Sport New Zealand funding to Rowing New Zealand increased by almost $300,000 to $6 million a year, particularly impacting the pathway for athletes.
With 46 events to be decided at the regatta, and racing from 9.30am on Friday, many competitors are in their first season of rowing competition in search of that pathway, coming from schools into the teamwork of rowing training with the season’s biggest goals still two to three months away. Those targets include the New Zealand Championships on Lake Ruataniwha on February 18-22, and the Maadi Cup schools regatta on Lake Karāpiro on March 24-29.
Regatta manager Raewynn White said with the river mouth closed recently, rowing conditions had been “almost like permanent high tide”.
The club, and other users, have ongoing concerns about the state of the river. A lack of money has stalled some maintenance, specifically the dredging that is supposed to happen at least once every 10 years but hasn’t been done since 2009.
Faced with having to find a land-based disposal site, the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council estimates the cost at $3.4m. It’s a looming problem for a site many regard as one of Hawke’s Bay’s natural wonders.
While the build-up of sediment is unlikely to impact too much on the regatta this year, the club has at times been unable to hold training “on the water” because of weed floating in the stream, said long-serving coach Ross Webb and new club director rowing and former New Zealand representative Paddy McInnes.
A young crew on the river, with floating weed in the foreground, an obstacle in one Saturday morning session ahead of the Hawke's Bay Rowing Club's cup regatta. Photo / Doug Laing
Other users of the river include Olympic Games kayaking finalist and World Cup champion Aimee Fisher, who has returned to Hawke’s Bay, and waka builder Jim Edwards, who has been unable to moor the waka Nga Tukemata-o-Kahungunu on the river. The waka had over the years been moored near the rowing sheds and been used for ventures on the river by school groups and the public.
A regional council spokesperson said sediment from Te Awa o Mokotūāraro had in the past been disposed of at sea but, after discussions with the community and tangata whenua, the council understood that was “not a viable long-term solution”.
“We are committed to moving to land disposal as a more sustainable option, but this comes with significant costs,” the spokesperson said a month ago when a regular de-weeding programme was taking place.
“We currently lack funding to implement this change in the immediate future.”
Dredging was included in the council’s Long-Term Plan with estimated costs of $3.4m and, ideally, the council said, would happen every 10 years.
The dredging has been extensively discussed at council meetings, including last year, but the council said “there are insufficient funds to carry out the dredging”.
It does carry out weed control in the river channel five times a year, in August, November, December, January, and March. The council said the regular maintenance, costing about $10,700 a time, was essential to maintain an open waterway, prevent water levels from rising due to excessive underwater weed growth, and ensure proper drainage for subsidiary drains and streams.
The rowing club, and some other users, contribute to the cost of the river’s maintenance.
Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said the river had a rich history, used historically for transport and industry by Māori and European settlers. In more recent times, it was used for sporting activities, including being the long-time home of the rowing club “which has produced many sporting champions who have built up their skills on this river”.
“It’s been home to waka ama competitions, and also cultural activities such as Waitangi Day celebrations,” she said.
“Ever since I became mayor, the Clive community has been asking for the river to be dredged. Like all our waterways this river is a taonga, and highly valued by the community.”
