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A teenage rowing team was left in tears as officials removed gold medals from their necks at last week’s Maadi Cup after a controversial disqualification.
Hamilton Boys’ High School rookie boat eight, mostly 13 and 14 years old, had won their final at the annual high schools rowing event on Lake Karapiro, which draws more than 2000 competitors and around 10,000 spectators during a week-long festival.
But after the medal ceremony, his boat was weighed and found to be 200 grams under normal weight. The school believes that the ship may even have been sabotaged and has made an official appeal to Rowing New Zealand.
An attorney, the father of a boy who rowed for one of the teams that the Hamilton Boys had defeated in the final, was so outraged by the disqualification that he offered free legal advice to the school to help prepare his case.
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A father of one of the boys in the crew said that some of them had burst into tears. His own son was “pretty heartbroken.”
“I was upset and kept saying ‘I just want my medal back,’ was all I was saying,” said the father.
“I think the hardest thing for the guys to understand is that they didn’t do anything wrong.
“If you got off to a wrong start, you guys would say, well you guys from the hard lesson, you broke the rules and that’s it. But as far as they are concerned … they won that race, so in their heads this is not fair. [They’re thinking] ‘We worked hard, we won the race and we didn’t win a medal.’
Christel Yardley / Stuff
The Maadi Cup draws large crowds to Lake Karapiro, Waikato.
The father said there were conversations on the social media platform Jodel about a possible sabotage of the ship. It is understood that the school filed the same case, but had no evidence to offer.
Hamilton Boys’ High rowing director Glenn Ross said he had met with rowing authorities in Lake Karapiro on Friday and that he and the school’s principal, Susan Hassall, had filed an appeal.
“I’m really probably not sure if it’s wise for me to make a comment while it’s on appeal, but it’s a very sad situation,” Ross said.
“I am reluctant to say anything at this time. I’m not sure when they will meet to decide our fate, but there are a number of mitigating things that have happened. The boat weighed light, and those are the rules, but when we say light, it was the weight of a cricket ball.
“It’s quite heartbreaking for the kids in their first year rowing, the 13 and 14 year olds who have won races all year and then this under-18 event, which is quite special, and then having it removed through no fault of their own. they … “
LAWRENCE GULLERY / THINGS
Waikato River Trails and Rowing New Zealand are working on riverside plantation projects along the Waikato River.
It is understood that the boat was weighed earlier and determined to be the correct weight, but was later checked on the spot when the discrepancy was discovered. An underweight boat could travel faster through the water.
The Boys’ High team beat St Bede’s of Canterbury to win the title by nearly two seconds. They were awarded their medals and then rowed the boat back to the starting area; The boat was weighed, determined to be underweight, and asked to return the medals.
The results were later altered, relegating them to sixth and last place in the final rankings, with St Bede’s in gold, Auckland Grammar second and Auckland’s Sacred Heart third. It is understood that Ross gave a speech to the boys saying they were still winners in his eyes.
The same crew had to row in the same boat for the U-15 race, in which they finished sixth.
The father said it was a difficult return from an engagement that had included training over Christmas, a January training camp in Mangakino, three 6 a.m. workouts a week, and four afternoon sessions after school.
“An assembly is coming up at school, so can our boys go on stage and get spanked, or do our boys have to sit in the audience because they technically didn’t win?” said the father.
The Hamilton Boys’ High School Facebook page removed a post celebrating the victory and now does not mention the result. The disqualification is not mentioned in any Maadi Cup press release, and no announcement was made on the field or a second medal ceremony, the father said. “It was as if the race had not happened,” said the father.
Rowing New Zealand did not respond to a request for comment before the deadline.
