It started out being the meeting of the sponsors for the coin toss deciding which skips the University of Waikato and Oxford University were to use in the 8th Annual Gallagher Great Race.

U-Leisure challenged Waikato Motor Group to a row off on the Waikato river – always up for a challenge the date and time were set.  What made the challenge so interesting was that none of the WMG staff were rowers.  Rules were two ring ins were allowed, with a minimum of two females in the team and no practising on the sly beforehand.

What starting off being a dismal day, the weather came right and we all met at the Hamilton Rowing Club ready for our 40 minutes of tuition and practise as to how to row as an eight.  WMG had a slight advantage as we pulled some strings and had asked Storm Uru and Peter Taylor (Gold Medal World Rowing Champions) if they were available to help us out.  WMG became involved with Storm and Peter through the Hyundai Pinnacle Programme and provided Storm with a Hyundai Santa Fe and now Peter with a Hyundai Tucson so that they can fulfil their training obligations as elite NZ rowers and meet with specialised mentors to advance the cornerstones of the Pinnacle program.

After having to lift the boat and carry it down to the river we all clambered on board.  Ross Tong who coached the Waikato University crew, the winners of the 8th Annual Gallagher Great Race took on the challenge to get 6 oars not counting the two pro’s in sequence.  After showing us that we could not tip out, Ross taught us the fundamentals of how to row.  We were absolutely knackered after the training row only to find out we had only covered about a kilometre…

The two teams WMG and U-Leisure had a short break before rowing up to the start line for our 250 metre row.  Both crews managed a racing start much to our surprise and rowed out hearts out against the current.  Both Storm and Peter were highly impressed with what had been accomplished in such a short span of time.  WMG crossed the finish line way ahead of U-Leisure and said that it was all the staff and not the two ring ins and took all the credit.

BBQ and drinks kindly supplied by U-Leisure followed and it was decided to make this an annual social event.