Our names are Adam Smith and Louis van Velthooven, and we have been selected for the New Zealand junior Rowing team to compete in the Junior World Champs in Eton London this August in the mens coxed four. This is an incredible opportunity and adventure that both of us have been working towards for four years. But it comes at a cost, and this is where you can help us.
I’d like to tell you a bit about our history, how we got to where we are now, and what we have planned for the future.
We started rowing in 2007 in our third form year at Auckland Grammar. The results that came our way weren’t exactly the best but we enjoyed every minute of it, we had a passion for the sport and that along with the friendships we had made was enough to motivate us to wake up at ridiculous hours of the morning to push our bodies to their limits, day in, day out.
The values learnt from rowing, we found easy to relate straight back into the classroom, dedication, persistence and an understanding that many small steps are required to achieve a big goal down the track.
By showing these skills we found ourselves skipping up the alphabet in classes and we’re both now in form 7C, and part of the school prefect team, we enjoy leading by example, and it is clear that many boys in the school look up to us in a big way, but not just because we are both 6ft4! Our rowing ability has come a huge way since our first “novice” season, and last October I was named the captain of rowing for our school team and Louis was named my vice-captain. We had a goal, to inspire, to create a winning environment for years to follow, and of course to win the Maadi Cup! Every training session from then we put those three goals into practice, it’s been an incredible buzz being able to watch all our hard work pay off.
Some of our results include…
2011 Auckland Champs:
-1st u18 Pair
-1st u18 Four
-1st u18 Eight
2011 North Island Champs:
-2nd u18 Pair
-3rd u18 Four
-1st u18 Eight
2011 National Champs (Maadi Cup Regatta):
-2nd u18 Pair
-1st u18 Four
-1st u18 Eight
Now the next big step is to compete in Eton. This trip could open up a huge amount of doors for the both of us, and will give a huge boost our rowing club from the success of its top rowers. We are both extremely proud to call ourselves grammar rowers and to claim a part in the transformation the club has undergone in the past two years, a transformation will would like to continue. With your help we can step onto that plane and embark on the journey of a lifetime.
We started rowing in 2007 in our third form year at Auckland Grammar. The results that came our way weren’t exactly the best but we enjoyed every minute of it, we had a passion for the sport and that along with the friendships we had made was enough to motivate us to wake up at ridiculous hours of the morning to push our bodies to their limits, day in, day out.
The values learnt from rowing, we found easy to relate straight back into the classroom, dedication, persistence and an understanding that many small steps are required to achieve a big goal down the track.
By showing these skills we found ourselves skipping up the alphabet in classes and we’re both now in form 7C, and part of the school prefect team, we enjoy leading by example, and it is clear that many boys in the school look up to us in a big way, but not just because we are both 6ft4! Our rowing ability has come a huge way since our first “novice” season, and last October I was named the captain of rowing for our school team and Louis was named my vice-captain. We had a goal, to inspire, to create a winning environment for years to follow, and of course to win the Maadi Cup! Every training session from then we put those three goals into practice, it’s been an incredible buzz being able to watch all our hard work pay off.
Some of our results include…
2011 Auckland Champs:
-1st u18 Pair
-1st u18 Four
-1st u18 Eight
2011 North Island Champs:
-2nd u18 Pair
-3rd u18 Four
-1st u18 Eight
2011 National Champs (Maadi Cup Regatta):
-2nd u18 Pair
-1st u18 Four
-1st u18 Eight
Now the next big step is to compete in Eton. This trip could open up a huge amount of doors for the both of us, and will give a huge boost our rowing club from the success of its top rowers. We are both extremely proud to call ourselves grammar rowers and to claim a part in the transformation the club has undergone in the past two years, a transformation will would like to continue. With your help we can step onto that plane and embark on the journey of a lifetime.
We would love to acknowledge our supporters so please leave your comments and well-wishes on the blog!
We'll be updating it periodically with news from base camp in Karapiro and our travels.
Adam&Louis
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