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Upsurge from Stewart Island
Invercargill coach proves what goes around comes around – sometimes from the most unexpected places.
The welcoming party Ian Hamilton received rowing into the main settlement on Rakiura/Stewart Island has gone way beyond expectations.
He was on the first part of his Rowing For Life challenge to row the length of New Zealand in a coastal quad.
Ian and his crew had just knocked off a big stretch up the eastern side of the island.
"We rowed 70kms into Oban and that's where we met all the kids from Halfmoon Bay School waiting for us at Ackers Point," says Ian. "They were all out there in their tinnies and stuff like that and then when we got on the beach they were all jumping out of their boats and they performed a haka for us. It was pretty cool."
That was at the end of 2023.
Some of the kids from Halfmoon Bay School welcome Ian Hamilton onto the beach at Oban in December 2023. Who knew there'd be four new rowers amongst them?
Ana Packham's a Year 11 at Southland Girls' High School. Swimming's been her sport since she was four years old but her mum Megan Duyvesteyn says she's been wanting to give rowing a go for a while.
"She didn't have anyone to go rowing with, so Ian said to her, 'Why don't you get some girls from Southland Girls?'
"All of Ana's friends are hostel girls so she went and gave them a good nag and got some girls to row with her."
By strange coincidence, four of them, Ava Simeon, Bella McRitchie-King, Tessa Allen and Ella-May Cowan, are all from Stewart Island and were at Halfmoon Bay School the day Ian turned up in his coastal quad.
"It's been quite unbelievable how the circumstances have done a full circle from primary school to rowing in to Oban and then meeting up with them again at high school," says Ian.
The Stewart Island rowers, from left: Ava Simeon, Tessa Allen, Bella McRitchie-King and the girl that got them all involved, Ana Packham. Ella-May Cowan was away when the photo was taken.
The island hoppers have got into a pretty good routine in the short time they've been trying to balance weekend rows with returning home at the end of the school week.
"They head home on the Foveaux Express on Fridays and then on Sunday they catch the ferry again and arrive down for a training session around five o'clock in the afternoon," says Ian.
Kath Johnson's not surprised the Stewart Island kids are taking to rowing. Her son Angus Kenny grew up on the island then headed to John McGlashan in Invercargill before heading north to row at Dunstan Arm RC.
Island life is a series of one outdoor adventure to the next, says Kath, who's been the Teaching Principal at Halfmoon Bay School for 18 years. When RowingHub calls, she's just preparing the kids for the school triathlon she describes as "pretty intense".
We'll take that to mean gruelling if other outdoor activities at school are anything to go by. In 2013, Kath came up with the 3km dinghy race out to Ulva Island and back for students. It's held every two years. Last year they had to abandon midway through the race because the sea got too rough. The time before that it was won by one Bella McRitchie-King.
So rowing's looking good for Southland Girls'. It's already been a good year for them and Southland Boys'.
At last week's Maadi, one of the intriguing performers in the Girls' Under 18 single was a young athlete called Olive Rutledge. It's a surname some of a certain age will recognise immediately. Her dad Jason's a legend of Southland and Highlanders rugby. Last year, at the age of 47, he turned out for his Woodlands club to win Southland premier rugby's Galbraith Shield for an 11th time, 25 years after first winning it. Jason's dad is Leicester Rutledge, a gutsy blindside flanker who played 13 tests for the All Blacks between 1978-80.
Olive's in just her first year of rowing and won gold in the U18 Novice Double at the recent Meridian South Island Schools championships. She made the quarters of the U18 single at Maadi but scratched to focus on the double with her partner Amelia Duffell, where they won a bronze medal.
Now here's a thing, the Stewart Island kids are rowing out of Invercargill Rowing Club. Olive's rowing out of Waihopai Rowing Club, 20m to the south of IRC and separated by a hedge.
One of Olive's coaches at Waihopai, Diane Jenkins, says the Year 12 is "quiet and unassuming but very determined". The fact she rides her bike to rowing from home seems to confirm that - it's a 36km round trip from home in Myross Bush to the rowing club.
Olive Rutledge racing in the Under 18 single at last week's Maadi Regatta. Photo: Sharron Bennett Photography.
And Southland Boys' managed to boat an eight for the first time in a long time, (pictured in hero shot) making the A Final of the U18 Novice Eight, which is coached by Ian's son Jeremy and Nigel Jack.
A kid called Ryan McRitchie-King was part of the crew.
And just like his little sister Bella, he's Stewart Island born and bred.
As for Ian, the Rowing For Life challenge got stalled going up the South Island. Stalled, but not stopped. He depends on a small support crew and volunteers from other clubs to fill the other three seats in his coastal boat. But he'll be back. He's got to go north next year anyway. He wants to take the Southland Girls High crew and their Stewart Islanders to Maadi Regatta at Lake Karapiro.
Andy Hay
Andy Hay is a freelance producer, writer and Maadi Cup-winning coach. He was cox of the world champion New Zealand eight of 1982 and '83. He is NZ Olympian #446.
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- Home
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- Upsurge from Stewart...
Upsurge from Stewart Island
Invercargill coach proves what goes around comes around – sometimes from the most unexpected places.
The welcoming party Ian Hamilton received rowing into the main settlement on Rakiura/Stewart Island has gone way beyond expectations.
He was on the first part of his Rowing For Life challenge to row the length of New Zealand in a coastal quad.
Ian and his crew had just knocked off a big stretch up the eastern side of the island.
"We rowed 70kms into Oban and that's where we met all the kids from Halfmoon Bay School waiting for us at Ackers Point," says Ian. "They were all out there in their tinnies and stuff like that and then when we got on the beach they were all jumping out of their boats and they performed a haka for us. It was pretty cool."
That was at the end of 2023.
Some of the kids from Halfmoon Bay School welcome Ian Hamilton onto the beach at Oban in December 2023. Who knew there'd be four new rowers amongst them?
Ana Packham's a Year 11 at Southland Girls' High School. Swimming's been her sport since she was four years old but her mum Megan Duyvesteyn says she's been wanting to give rowing a go for a while.
"She didn't have anyone to go rowing with, so Ian said to her, 'Why don't you get some girls from Southland Girls?'
"All of Ana's friends are hostel girls so she went and gave them a good nag and got some girls to row with her."
By strange coincidence, four of them, Ava Simeon, Bella McRitchie-King, Tessa Allen and Ella-May Cowan, are all from Stewart Island and were at Halfmoon Bay School the day Ian turned up in his coastal quad.
"It's been quite unbelievable how the circumstances have done a full circle from primary school to rowing in to Oban and then meeting up with them again at high school," says Ian.
The Stewart Island rowers, from left: Ava Simeon, Tessa Allen, Bella McRitchie-King and the girl that got them all involved, Ana Packham. Ella-May Cowan was away when the photo was taken.
The island hoppers have got into a pretty good routine in the short time they've been trying to balance weekend rows with returning home at the end of the school week.
"They head home on the Foveaux Express on Fridays and then on Sunday they catch the ferry again and arrive down for a training session around five o'clock in the afternoon," says Ian.
Kath Johnson's not surprised the Stewart Island kids are taking to rowing. Her son Angus Kenny grew up on the island then headed to John McGlashan in Invercargill before heading north to row at Dunstan Arm RC.
Island life is a series of one outdoor adventure to the next, says Kath, who's been the Teaching Principal at Halfmoon Bay School for 18 years. When RowingHub calls, she's just preparing the kids for the school triathlon she describes as "pretty intense".
We'll take that to mean gruelling if other outdoor activities at school are anything to go by. In 2013, Kath came up with the 3km dinghy race out to Ulva Island and back for students. It's held every two years. Last year they had to abandon midway through the race because the sea got too rough. The time before that it was won by one Bella McRitchie-King.
So rowing's looking good for Southland Girls'. It's already been a good year for them and Southland Boys'.
At last week's Maadi, one of the intriguing performers in the Girls' Under 18 single was a young athlete called Olive Rutledge. It's a surname some of a certain age will recognise immediately. Her dad Jason's a legend of Southland and Highlanders rugby. Last year, at the age of 47, he turned out for his Woodlands club to win Southland premier rugby's Galbraith Shield for an 11th time, 25 years after first winning it. Jason's dad is Leicester Rutledge, a gutsy blindside flanker who played 13 tests for the All Blacks between 1978-80.
Olive's in just her first year of rowing and won gold in the U18 Novice Double at the recent Meridian South Island Schools championships. She made the quarters of the U18 single at Maadi but scratched to focus on the double with her partner Amelia Duffell, where they won a bronze medal.
Now here's a thing, the Stewart Island kids are rowing out of Invercargill Rowing Club. Olive's rowing out of Waihopai Rowing Club, 20m to the south of IRC and separated by a hedge.
One of Olive's coaches at Waihopai, Diane Jenkins, says the Year 12 is "quiet and unassuming but very determined". The fact she rides her bike to rowing from home seems to confirm that - it's a 36km round trip from home in Myross Bush to the rowing club.
Olive Rutledge racing in the Under 18 single at last week's Maadi Regatta. Photo: Sharron Bennett Photography.
And Southland Boys' managed to boat an eight for the first time in a long time, (pictured in hero shot) making the A Final of the U18 Novice Eight, which is coached by Ian's son Jeremy and Nigel Jack.
A kid called Ryan McRitchie-King was part of the crew.
And just like his little sister Bella, he's Stewart Island born and bred.
As for Ian, the Rowing For Life challenge got stalled going up the South Island. Stalled, but not stopped. He depends on a small support crew and volunteers from other clubs to fill the other three seats in his coastal boat. But he'll be back. He's got to go north next year anyway. He wants to take the Southland Girls High crew and their Stewart Islanders to Maadi Regatta at Lake Karapiro.
Andy Hay
Andy Hay is a freelance producer, writer and Maadi Cup-winning coach. He was cox of the world champion New Zealand eight of 1982 and '83. He is NZ Olympian #446.
