Bay Coast Rowing Club are celebrating after an exciting weekend at the 2025 North Island Rowing Championships, achieving a clean sweep of the novice women’s sculling events and taking home gold medals in the double, quad and octuple sculls.

The novice squad’s dominance was led by Sophie Harrison and Nachalah Smith, who secured gold in all three sculling events.

In the quad, they teamed up with Evelyn Hawke, Bella Kubaisi-Gallagher and coxswain Olivia Shefferd, while the octuple crew also included Georgie Gee, Breea Pankhurst, Sophie Christians and Katharina Teppner.

Coach Kaylee Cattley described the results as a proud moment for the club.

“The girls’ performance was outstanding, especially with how far they were in front in the A finals,” she said.

“It's very tight competition. If you look at seconds and thirds, they were very close, compared to our girls who were 10 to 15 seconds in front the majority of the time.”

The novice quad powering home for gold: Sophie Harrison (stroke), Bella Kubaisi-Gallagher, Nachalah Smith and Evelyn Hawke. Cox Olivia Shefferd is not shown.  Photo: Conrad Blind/Rowing Pictureshow.

Cattley said the girls have a very high work ethic, and that’s what got them in the boat.

“Selecting the top crews was extremely difficult because we’ve got such a strong novice squad. Some of these girls have only been rowing for three or four months, but they’ve really put in the work.”

She said that novice rowers are those in their first year of competition.

Kaylee, a Year 13 student at Ōtūmoetai College, began coaching this season after an injury forced her stop rowing. Reflecting on her transition from athlete to coach, she said.

“When I was rowing, I was really tentative, so I paid close attention to what the coaches were asking of me and how they explained it. That’s helped me a lot with drills and passing that on to the girls.”

She also emphasised the team effort behind the club’s success, highlighting how all the Bay Coast coaches have played a part, particularly her fellow novice coaches Chelsey Gee, Kristy Edwards and Nick Dawe.

“We’ve all been supporting each other, and it’s such a great feeling,” she said.

The Bay Coast team receive their gold medals for the Women’s Novice Coxed Octuple Sculls: Back row from left: Kaylee Cattley (coach), Georgie Gee, Evelyn Hawke, Bella Kubaisi-Gallagher, Sophie Christians, Breea Pankhurst. Front row from left: Katharina Teppner, Nachalah Smith, Olivia Shefferd (cox) & Sophie Harrison. Photo: Conrad Blind/Rowing Pictureshow.

Held at Lake Karapiro from January 24 to 25, the championships were cut short due to weather, with the regatta compressed into two days and only A finals held. This created a gruelling schedule for athletes, with the quad heat and finals packed into the same day.

For Harrison and Smith, it meant racing four times in a single day – a remarkable display of endurance.

“They’re just really hard workers,” Cattley said. “They’ve been putting in the effort – on the water, going on runs, they’re committed.

"And that’s how they managed to do four big races in one day. And they weren’t messy wins, either – they came down the course all working together, and I think it brought them all closer as a team.”

The club’s success wasn’t confined to the novice category. Jemima Glaholm, known for her relentless work ethic, claimed bronze in the Women’s Club Single Sculls, capping off an exceptional weekend for Bay Coast.

Nachalah Smith and Sophie Harrison with their hard-won medals. Photo/Supplied.

Inspired by these outstanding performances Bay Coast is offering free “Give Rowing A Go” sessions for high school students on February 9 and 16, and April 13 and 27, from 2 pm to 4 pm at 369 Wairoa Road, near Bethlehem.

Sessions for adults new to or returning to rowing are also available on Saturday mornings.

All equipment is provided, and no experience is needed. For more details, visit baycoastrowing.co.nz/learn-to-row.