The New Zealand secondary schools who have produced the most Olympic Rowers. Photo / Paul Slater
Since before World War II, New Zealand has been sending rowers to the Olympic Games. Single Sculler Darcy Hadfield travelled by boat to Antwerp, Belgium, in 1920 and won bronze.
More than a century later, this trailblazer’s legacy has ignited the sport, making it Aotearoa’s most decorated Olympic event with 29 medals, including 14 golds.
Much of this success is owed to secondary schools and their crucial role in developing many of these athletes. These schools have become prestigious, and known for producing exceptional rowing talent.
Following the Paris 2024 games, the Herald has mapped the schools of every Kiwi Olympic rower over the last 40 years, starting from when New Zealand sent both male and female boats to the Los Angeles games. The interactive graphic below allows rowers and fans to see how their school ranks, showcasing which schools can claim the ultimate on-water bragging rights.
St Bede’s College in Christchurch holds the top spot for producing the most Olympians, with six former students competing in the Games. Following closely are Westlake Boy’s High School and Whanganui High School, each with five Olympians.
Taikura Rudolf Steiner School stands out as the most successful Olympic rowing school, a notable irony given its education system’s non-competitive philosophy. The school’s claim to fame is the Evers-Swindell twins, Caroline and Georgina, who won double sculls world titles in 2002, 2003, and 2005, and Olympic gold medals in 2004 and 2008.
St Bede’s pupils first featured at the Los Angeles Games in 1984, former student Les O’Connell won first place in the coxless four, while Don Symon secured third place in the coxed four. George Keys also earned third place in the coxed four in 1988. Pat Peoples competed in the coxless four in 1992, finishing in sixth place, and Dave Schaper placed fifth in the coxless pair in 1996. Scott Brownlee achieved sixth place in the four in 2000.
In recent years, St Bede’s College has been under scrutiny for off-water incidents. In 2015 two boys were banned for riding on the baggage carousel at Auckland Airport, egged on by their teammates. In 2017, several rowers were sent home from the Maadi Cup for inappropriate social media activity, as four boys were allegedly harassing a female rower at the regatta.
Despite the disciplinary occurrences, St Bede’s rector, Jon McDowall told the Herald they have a comprehensive programme that is led “exceptionally” well by their rowing club head coach, Dale Maher.
“It comprises staff and parents, we have 40 rowers in the squad, and the numbers are growing.”
“Currently, the programme is based around the concept of growing the complete rowing athlete: fit, technically proficient, with a good understanding of the sport.
“Equally important is our ethos, values, and culture, which emphasise the importance of respect, humility, and teamwork.”
The students still maintain full academic programmes whilst undertaking an intensive rowing programme, which McDowall said is a testament to their hard work and the collective efforts of the community.
Scott Brownlee, who went to Sydney in 2000 as part of the four, and Pat Peoples, from the coxless four at the 1992 games in Barcelona, are old boys who have continued to add value as mentors and benefactors to the school’s programme.
“They continue to support our programme through gifts of time, talent, and treasure, and for that, we are grateful,” said McDowall.
Brownlee 24 years ago was the school’s last student to go to a Games, however, the rector isn’t worried about the state of the sport at the school.
“Our rowing programme is as popular as ever, with increasing numbers over the past few years.
“There is no doubt recent successes at the Maadi Cup have increased the profile of rowing once again.
“Whilst we haven’t had any Olympians since 2000, a number of recent old boys have gone on to represent New Zealand at the under 19 and under 23 levels.”
Out of Westlake Boys’ High School, at the 1984 Games, Mike Stanley and Andy Hay both finished in fourth place in the eight, while Barrie Mabbott secured third place in the coxed four. Eric Verdonk earned third place in the single sculls in 1988. Most recently, in 2020, Michael Brake achieved gold in the eight.
Hay who still coaches at the school, told the Herald schools have always played a huge role in developing the country’s rowing talent.
“The programmes now are pretty sophisticated, and the coaching is really good, the Maadi Cup, Maadi Regatta, and the school’s regattas really do develop talent.”
For Westlake, Hay said their success started when the “godfather of rowing” came onto the scene.
“He had coached an Olympic crew back in the 50s ... He brought a real system to Westlake rowing at a time when the sport was really being taken on by a lot of schools.
“By creating that great system of coaching and encouraging kids to row, they really got an early start in the whole school environment,” Hay said.
In recent years, Hay says the school’s success is thanks to their access to top resources rowing academy.
“We have always had really good training facilities through the years. Our home was always at Lake Pupuke, but we have more often than not rowed on the Upper Harbour at Hobsonville or Greenhithe.
“That water is really good training water and it has allowed us to create some excellent training programmes over the years.”
Hay’s watched the school’s rowing rivals develop from his time as a teenager in the 1970s to coaching still today.
“In the early days, in the 50s,there were always schools like Whanganui Collegiate and Hamilton Boys, which were big rivals.
“From the 90s, Christ’s College emerged as a strong competitor, and, of course, the Auckland schools have always been fierce rivals for us as well.
“As you have probably seen and figured, the Hamilton crews and the Christchurch schools are really dominating at the moment.
“The emergence of St Peter’s Auckland has been pretty remarkable over the last few years.”
Rowing New Zealand’s community and development general manager Mark Weatherall told the Herald school rowing has always been key to New Zealand’s success on the international stage.
“If I’m being really honest, the majority of people who row in New Zealand are school rowers. “When you look at the just under 5000 licenced rowers, nearly 4000 are school students. So that’s a huge percentage of our rowing population, and from that point of view, they are really important.
“The basis of the under-19 team that goes to the world championships is school-based students, so that’s really important.
“The Maadi Regatta itself is one of the biggest secondary school sports events in Australasia, and we’re really proud of that.”
*Schools provided by Rowing NZ. Some data was insufficient.
Bonnie Jansen is a multimedia journalist in the NZME sports team. She’s a football commentator and co-host of the Football Fever podcast and was part of the Te Rito cadetship scheme before becoming a fulltime journalist.
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