Macleans College rowers bring home medals from North Island Championships

With over 2,000 competitors, this regatta is one of the largest and most competitive events on the rowing calendar. Crews from all over the North Island, from the far north to Wellington, made qualifying for the finals a challenging feat. In one particular event, with eight heats of eight crews, only the top two finishers from each heat advanced to the finals - meaning 75% of the crews were eliminated at that stage alone.

Despite the intense competition, nearly all Macleans College rowers made it to the finals. The squad boasted impressive results, with nine crews reaching the A finals, eight crews securing spots in the B finals and five crews making it to the C finals.

Leading the charge for Macleans College was Nathan Strachan (Rutherford House), who clinched the gold medal in the U18 single sculls, marking an outstanding achievement. This victory also made it the second consecutive year that a Macleans College rower has claimed the North Island championship in this event, following James Dimock’s (Te Kanawa 2020 - 2024) victory in 2024.

Nathan Strachan and Alexander Fahey (Mansfield) made a strong showing, teaming up to win a bronze medal in the U18 double sculls. The U18 quad team - comprised of Nathan Strachan, Alexander Fahey, Ben High (Hillary) and Declan Mclean (Te Kanawa) with Cerys O’Loughlin (Upham) as coxswain - earned another bronze medal, while Nick Fahey (Mansfield) and Lucas Jiang (Upham) secured a bronze in the U15 double sculls.

The Macleans College girls’ crew also delivered outstanding performances, with two crews advancing to the A finals, four to the B finals and three to the C finals. This marked a notable improvement over last year’s results.

Equally satisfying was the fact that in three of the B finals, Macleans College rowers recorded times that were competitive with those in the A finals, demonstrating their strong performances against the best crews in the event.