The hard work put in over winter has paid off for a group of Wellington RC’s rowers, with nine current members and several recent members forming part of the 22-strong squad representing the Wellington region at the North Island Interprovincial Regatta at Lake Karāpiro on 25 and 26 September.

The selections follow a winter of training and racing through the Wellington Rowing Association’s Row for Gold programme, which brought athletes from clubs across the region together to train, test themselves and gain experience racing in different combinations.

There is plenty of Wellington Rowing Club representation in the final squad.

Open Men’s selection Jason Theobald and Toby Kleinsman Leusink will both wear the Wellington colours, while the Under-20 Women’s crew includes Charlie Fitzgerald, Maddi Stinson, Millie Bonifant and Charlotte Thomson. In the Under-20 Men’s crew, Aidan Rook, Conor Rook and Kaine Goonan have all earned selection.

In addition, the three other members of the Open Men’s category (Finn Pethers-Boak, Guy Curry-Stanton and Sean O’Connor) are recent WRC members, as well as ex-Onslow College rower and current Onslow coach Sam Harford in the Under-20 Men category.

The selections are a great reward for the commitment shown by the athletes throughout the winter. Row for Gold was designed not only to improve fitness and rowing performance, but also to bring athletes from different clubs together and provide a stronger pathway into representative rowing.

That spirit of collaboration has been one of the highlights of the programme, with athletes training alongside one another, challenging each other and building relationships across the Wellington rowing community. It was a real highlight to see the Wellington RC host the programme, with the Function Centre put to good use over the otherwise quiet winter period as the base for erg sessions.

From everyone at Wellington Rowing Club, congratulations to all those selected — and especially to our WRC athletes. We’ll be following the Wellington crews closely and wishing them all the very best for the North Island Interprovincial Regatta on 25 and 26 September.

The full Wellington interprovincial squad is:

Open Men
Jason Theobald (WELC)
Toby Kleinsman Leusink (WELC)
Finn Pethers-Boak (STAC)
Guy Curry-Stanton (STAC)
Sean O'Connor (STAC)

Under-20 Women
Alma Steinfeld (STAC)
Ruhi Powdrell (STAC)
Livvy Keddell (PETC)
Charlie Fitzgerald (WELC)
Lily Melville (STAC)
Maddi Stinson (WELC)
Millie Bonifant (WELC)
Charlotte Thomson (WELC)

Under-20 Men
Aidan Rook (WELC)
Conor Rook (WELC)
Sam Harford (STAC)
Ollie Wiig (STAC)
Fraser Hart (STAC)
Jude Rumball-Smith (STAC)
Kaine Goonan (WELC)

Cox
Noam Phillips (STAC)

Article added: Monday 7 September 2026