Three athletes from Somerset College headed to Penrith for the NSW State Championships held on the Olympic course on February 7 to 9. In hot conditions and at a higher level of competition, the weekend saw some of the country's best racing this year.
Maddi McLaughlin took to the water first, racing in the Under 21 Lightweight Single Scull. This event doubled up as a selection race for the Queensland Lightweight Women’s Quad as three athletes competing were all chasing a seat. In a tough final race, Maddi missed out on a spot by one and a half seconds.
On Saturday Marcus Fox and Ethan Hu represented Somerset College in the Under 16 Men’s Double Scull. Comfortably progressing through to the Final, where they were challenged by Barker College and Kinross Wolaroi, coming in two and a half seconds behind first and claiming the Bronze Medal.
Sunday’s racing saw Maddi compete in the Schoolgirl Single Scull up against 33 other entries. Having to race three times in less than two and a half hours was always going to be a huge challenge, but Maddi took it all in her stride and progressed through to the Final. Racing against older athletes was always going to see some fast times, but the experience will set Maddi up for next year and the hope is her courage inspires more athletes to push themselves to see how far they can go.
Both Marcus and Ethan made it to the Final of the Under 16 Men’s Single Sculls, meaning all three athletes made it through to the Finals of the Four events they were competing in. Ethan rowed to fourth place, just over two seconds behind first place with Marcus coming eighth.
Thank you to all the parents, supporters and Trinity Lutheran College who helped make the weekend so successful. The Somerset College Rowing Programme is so proud of these athletes who continue to show us that we are all capable of stepping up to tough competition and that the results will follow hard work.
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