7 April, 2026

Westlake pair defeat King’s rivals to claim Maadi gold

In the medals… Sam Bird (left) and Donovan Pivac won gold in the under-18 coxless pair at Ruataniwha

Westlake Boys High School rowers Sam Bird and Donovan Pivac won gold in the boys’ under-18 coxless pair at the national Maadi Cup school championships at Lake Ruataniwha near Twizel.
Bird and Pivac dominated the event, getting faster with each race, from winning their heat in 7:12.49, their semifinal in 7:11.72 and the final in 7.08.20 – two seconds faster than King’s College in second.
Sam was delighted with the result. “They  (King’s) are our key rivals – we’ve been racing them for a few years – so it was great to beat them in the final.”
Westlake Boys U18 coxed four (cox Harry Frankham, Noah Geelan de Kabath, Bird and Pivac and Quinn Oliver-Porter) won bronze.
Westlake Girls’ Charlotte Mawston and Zara Bosch won silver in the girls’ U18 coxless pair, while Annabel Webber and Zara Bosch took bronze in the U17 coxless pair.

• After the Maadi Cup, several North Shore rowers were picked for upcoming trials: Zara Bosch, Quinn Oliver-Porter and Lyla Carrancho (coxswain) were  selected for North Island U18 trials to be held at Lake Karapiro on April 12 and 13. Charlotte Mawston, Donovan Pivac and Sam Bird were nominated for the national U19 trials to be held at Karapiro from April 12-18. From this, a New Zealand team will be picked for the World U19 Championships in Bulgaria in August.

Charlotte Mawston (left) and Zara Bosch claimed silver in the girls’ event

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