Wrap-upSISSC 2017
The South Island Championships are finished for another year. It was a damp and cold regatta but at least the water was conditions were generally excellent.
St Andrews College won the Point Bell for Champion School of the regatta. It was a close contest and they only edged out Rangi Ruru Girls School in the last race of the day.
The standard of competition was very high and the 12 pennant events (those with unrestricted entry i.e. U18 non-novice, non-lightweight) were shared between 7 different schools. STAN won all three boys sweep oar pennant events and the sculling ones were split between NELB (2) and JMCG (1). ASHB won all three girls sculling pennant events and the sweep oar ones were shared between RRGS, NCOG, and CGHS.
St Andrews College won the Boys Under-18 Eights and Rangi Ruru Girls School won the Girls Under-18 Eights.
Schools will now be looking forward to a chance to compete against their North Island counterparts at the 2017 Aon Maadi Cup.
News 2017-01-17
2017 Stats
1120 pupils from 47 schools entered in 3107 seats in 869 crews. 196 races were required to complete the regatta and find the winners of all 52 events.
NISSC
While South Island schools are competing on Lake Ruataniwha for recognition as the best the South Island has to offer their North Island counter-parts will do the same thing up at the 2016 Aon North Island Champs on Lake Karapiro. Keep a watch on both regattas for indicators of who may claim the top spot at Maadi!
Warm clothing
Although rowing is a summer sport the weather does not always co-operate and the lake if fed from glaciers. It is essential everybody has warm clothing available and uses it. Officials do not want to see crews arriving at the start shivering when they should be dressed warmly and removing the extra layers pre-race.
Number of events per pupil
After a review of the per pupil entries for the last few Seasons' school regattas and much discussion about the health and safety of each rower, the Schools Committee continues to make the following recommendation:
School age rowers should only be racing 2 events at a Championships regatta. A few rowers could be considered for 3 events; none should be doing more.
In reaching the recommendation advice was sought from physiologists, leading elite coaches and the NZ Secondary School Sports Council. The Schools Committee will continue to monitor the entry per pupil this season.
NZSSSC School Team Eligibility criteria pupils "new" to a school
The NZSSSC School Team Eligibility criteria were recently revised with effect this year. An updated article about the NZSSSC School Team Eligibility criteria is available to help members assess whether or not each of their pupils is considered new to their school. Schools are limited to 3 "new" pupils in an eight and 1 "new" pupil in other boats ("new" pupils are those who've swapped schools or come from overseas and looks back over the past 2 years). There is now also a limit of 2 pupils with an NZSSSC-issed PCRE per crew (1 in singles!).
Lightweightschanges and reminders
Following the SGM in November lightweight rowing has been restricted to older pupils. The lightweight events are now "Over-15" events. This means they are no longer open to pupils who are Under-16 (Over-15 = 16 = Under-17).
We also take this opportunity to remind Members who enter lightweight rowers in both lightweight events that NZSSRA Rules require crews to weigh in before EACH event (Rule 12). Pupils cannot weigh-in once for both events. This is different from coxswains but coxswains can be check-weighed at any time whereas lightweights cannot.
As we have been repeatedly assured all lightweights at our regattas are genuine lightweights and naturally below the weight limits the Rule requirements should present no challenges with respect to making weight. An athlete who has to avoid re-hydrating and eating between events in order to make weight for both events should not be racing lightweight.
Fees
Entry fees (exclusive of GST) for the regatta were set by members at the 2015 AGM and not increased last year: 1X $15, 2X/2- $20, 4X+/4+ $30, 8X+/8+ $40, amenity $16 per pupil.
Entry limits2 crews per school per event (excl 8(X)+s)
This Season the usual limit of 2 crews-per-school-per-event will apply for events other than eights and octuples. There is no limit for all eights and octuples events.
Schools must also be aware the compressed nature of this regatta means there should be no expectation any pupil who is entered in more than one event will have sufficient time available to compete in all of those events.
Note: entry limits get raised slowly during supplementary entries
2016 Stats
1104 pupils from 48 schools were entered in 3120 seats in 874 crews. 203 races were required to complete the regatta and find the winners of all 52 events.
Lake Ruataniwha, 11 & 12 March 2017
