Auckland Grammar School hope to reclaim their eights title

Auckland Grammar School’s (AGS) rowers in the boys’ under-18 eight have high hopes of winning the Maadi Cup despite the serious competition.

The North Island Championships held earlier this month gave the team an indication of who to watch out for, but they said they did not know what to expect from the South Island schools.

HIGH HOPES: Left to right, John Etty (In charge of rowing), Josh Hares, Callum Ross and Jonny Brown (cox) proud with their rowing performance in the U18 eight. Photo: Sharn Roberts

The master in charge of rowing at AGS, John Etty, said the results are difficult to predict because the “difference between [finishing] positions is so close”, but he expects the boys have a high chance of winning.

AGS narrowly missed out on holding their 2011 title of Maadi Cup champions last year after Christ’s College beat them by a mere 30 milliseconds.

Josh Hares, rower in the boys U18 eight, said “[we] look to race [our] best performance and we know if we can do that, we will be happy with the result”.

“[We] can’t ask for more than [their] best performance,” said Etty.

Rower Callum Ross and coxswain Jonny Brown, also in the U18 eight, were nominated by their coaches to trial for the Junior World Rowing Championships to represent New Zealand.

The team has been training hard about 22 hours per week and they have beaten their personal best time this season.