05 December 2024
For the second year, the Junior School has supported the Rowing Program by incorporating Rowing into their Year 6 PE lessons this week. Mr Cini brought well-behaved PE classes over to the swimming pool, where Lily Hockings inducted them into the dark arts of manoeuvring a tub scull and deciding which direction you want to go faster on the erg. Hugely satisfying for Lily, her team, and Mr Cini to see boys engaging with rowing who hadn’t previously connected with PE. Over fifty were sufficiently inspired to accept the Senior Squad’s invitation to “Come and Try” rowing on the Torrens.
A summer’s evening on the banks of the Torrens is always special, and our boathouse provides a spectacular setting. Add our Senior Squad, over fifty Year 6 students at the end of their step-up day, coach Lucy Stephan and her gold medal, and we had a great atmosphere to inspire our next generation of SPSC rowers. Somehow, our Year 12 coaches and Senior squad created method amid the mayhem, getting all the Year 6 students out in quads and giving them the chance to touch an Olympic gold medal. At one point, we had five barely manoeuvrable quads turning under the King William Street bridge simultaneously.
The Seniors served up the essential rowing BBQ, packed away all the equipment, and then headed upstairs to enjoy their own carbs night. Many thanks to the mothers and the Parents’ Committee for serving up the boys’ well-deserved reward. Perhaps, in 2030, these Seniors will return to cheer on the boys they helped take afloat for the first time at the Head of the River.
Wade Hall-Craggs
Head of Rowing
