A 17-year-old Christchurch Boys' High student has managed to do what the world's best rowers could not: He beat Eric Murray.
Although it wasn't on the water, year 13 student Tom Woelders took on the double Olympic gold medallist and four-time world champion in a head-to-head rowing machine (erg) race on Thursday night.
Before the short and fast 500m race on their rowing machines, Tom and Murray had a quick warm up.
The race was over in just over 1min.
But when he looked down to see his time, Tom said he was surprised he'd rowed more than three seconds faster that Murray.
His good form is just in time for the Maadi Cup, which begins on March 19 at Lake Ruataniwha, Twizel.
De Souza said he never doubted Tom could win.
"I always had my money on Tom. Eric's been out of rowing for a while now. Where Tom's just finishing up the end of his season. He's been on the water non-stop for the last six months," he said.
Tom he said he wasn't too phased by the calibre of his competitor. But it was a "great" experience going up against the Olympian.
"It was a really good time. He gave me a few pointers before the race," Tom said.
Although he wasn't certain he could beat him, it was a great feeling looking down at the erg and seeing his time was more than three seconds faster than Murray's.
But beating Murray hasn't gone to Tom's head.
His mind is firmly on the next big competition, which will be the last chance he has to take out the Maadi Cup with CBHS before he finishes school.
"We're just getting ready for Maadi now," he said.
After the race, Murray helped the school name the two new Laszlo boats in its fleet, which the rowers will be taking to Twizel.
