Uni club's success a team effort

Otago Daily Times

05-06-2025

It is hard to pinpoint one area that has made the Otago University Rowing Club a success.
Maybe that is the beauty of the hard-working club — it is strong across the board and that led to it being named club of the year at the recent Rowing New Zealand awards.
Club manager Glen Sinclair was thrilled at the recognition.
"Very stoked for all of the people that work behind the scenes at the club and have done so much work for a very long time," Sinclair said.
The club, which last won the award in the early 2000s, is home to about 95 competitive rowers, nearly 30 recreational rowers, 12 Special Olympic rowers, nine high-calibre coaches — an area in which Sinclair takes particular pride — and five volunteers.
Each person contributes to the club's fibre and has helped it to be New Zealand's top university club for the past 16 years, and only losing the national universities regatta on overall points once in the past 26 years.
Many athletes have received higher honours in the past year including Juliette Lequeux, who represented New Zealand at the Windermere Cup and has been selected for world cup events this month, and Hannah Matehaere, who joined Otago University as a novice, also represented New Zealand at the Windermere Cup and will compete at the World University Games in Germany.
Jack Pearson, Cody Johnson and recent graduate Fred Vavasour are part of the national under-23 programme.
Otago University also maintains strong relationships in Japan, China and Germany, competing in five international regattas in 2024 and holding programmes that benefited rowers from different countries.
"No other club has anything like that in New Zealand. We work hard to make sure that is our special thing," Sinclair said.
"Because of our club's relationships, we're setting up the training camp for the world uni games in Germany.
"Even going back further, it was because of Otago Uni's relationships in New Zealand that we set up the camp for the New Zealand Olympic team for the Japan Olympics."
The club also supports Otago Rowing with several events, helps secondary school rowing clubs with facilities and rowing machines, and hosts yearly waka ama events.
Earlier this year, it also opened a new performance centre at Lake Ruataniwha.
For the past 27 years, Sinclair has also run Special Olympic indoor rowing sessions with 12 athletes involved — including six who have been there since the beginning — and the students help as coaches.
"What I love even more is seeing my athletes who coach it ... the rewards that they get out of it."
Otago Rowing and North End life member Lauren Farnden received a national service award.
After hanging up the oars, Farnden has given back to the sport through coaching at North End and St Hilda's Collegiate, led the Otago provincial team, directed Otago's winter development programme and contributed nationally.
Since 2004, Farnden has moved through the administrative ranks as chairwoman of the Otago secondary school rowing association and serves on the Southern Rowing performance centre board.
She has made her mark as an official and was the chief umpire for the New Zealand championships earlier this year, and internationally has officiated at the world cup in Poland and the world masters championships.