Bay Harbour: August 10, 2016

PAGE 20 BAY HARBOUR
Wednesday August 10 2016
SPORTS
Rower off to world champs
NEW HEIGHTS: Our Lady Star of the Sea’s year 7 and 8
rugby team is taking their grade by storm having only lost
one of their matches this season. The team is made up of an
assortment of talented hockey, soccer, ice hockey and rugby
players. At the beginning of the year many of these boys had
never played rugby before but wanted the chance to play
together in the same team at the Canterbury Primary Rugby
competition each Friday.
VICTORIOUS: The Ferrymead Bays masters division 1 football
team, Baby Blues, took out the league competition. This
season, they played 16, won 13, drew 2, lost 1, with a goal
difference of 40 goals.
• By Annabelle Dick
A LITTLE River resident
will travel to Rotterdam,
Netherlands, to compete
in an international rowing
championship this month.
Jack Lopas, 17, will compete as
part of the double sculls team.
“Both my parents, uncles and
grandad rowed so I got into it
through them. My grandad and
dad took me out on a single one
day to have a go and I really
enjoyed so it went from there,”
Jack said.
He started rowing at 14 and
moved from Lincoln High
School to Christchurch Boys’
High School and joined the rowing
squad soon after.
There he teamed up with
fellow student Angus Foster to
create a title-winning duo.
“This year at club nationals
we won the under-19 double
sculls and at Maadi we won the
under-18 double. There we were
also a part of teams that won
the under-18 quad and placed
third in the under-18 eight,” Jack
said.
He also won the under-18 single
and was selected to trial with
the New Zealand junior rowing
squad.
During his trial, he managed
to beat Olympic medallist Hamish
Bond’s 2km rowing machine
record he set while trialling for
the New Zealand squad.
“The record was 6.03 seconds
and I got 5.57 seconds,” he said.
STROKE OF SUCCESS: Jack Lopas, 17, is off to an international
rowing championship this month. ​
This is the second time he’s
made the junior team having
been selected last year, but he
and Angus only made it as the
reserve duo for the competing
duo.
“It was an experience but we
were in as reserves. But this year,
we’re the top double so it’s a
chance to go out there and
do the best we can. We’ve got
good potential this year,” Jack
said.
He trains at least seven times a
week often peaking at 12 trainings
a week.
His schedule consists of lots of
early mornings, gym sessions,
on-water trainings and rowing
machines.
“It’s very intense.”
Jack and Angus will fly out
this Friday in preparation for the
competition taking place August
21-28.
“It’s pretty exciting. It’s been
quite a long time coming and
we’re definitely ready for this.”
It’s time to grow
The magazine for gardeners who like to get their hands dirty
Bigger from August 22