Congratulations to Charlotte Mawston and Maeve Lockett who competed impressively at the International Rowing Challenge in Ann Arbour, Michigan from 14 – 16 July for the New Zealand Rowing Under 19 Development Team to win double gold. The duo competed with unwavering determination in pursuit of gold in both the Women’s Pair and Women’s Coxed Four events. Racing over 1500m, Westlake Girls Rower of the Year, Charlotte Mawston, stroked the Coxed Four and won the race in a time of 5:34:16, +3.32 seconds ahead of the USC crew. In the Womens Pair, Charlotte and Maeve persisted in another tight encounter to take gold in a time of 5:54:42, +4.03 seconds faster. The Mexican National Team finished third. The regatta is a reinvention of a previous three-way event with USA, Canada, and Mexico. The International Rowing Challenge (IRC) provides a taste of international racing for Under 19 athletes from USA, Canada, Mexico, and New Zealand (8 teams x USA, 2 x Canada, 1 x Mexico and 1 x New Zealand.
Back at school now, the pair are reacclimatising to the cold weather but Year 12 student, Mawston, has little time to rest as she hangs up her oars for now to rejoin the Westlake Girls Premier Basketball Team as they prepare to defend their third New Zealand Secondary Schools Championship and to qualify for the ISF World Champs once again.