Powell River native Maia du Toit delivered a gold medal winning performance with the Shawnigan Lake School Junior Girls Lightweight 4+ crew at the 67th Annual Canadian Secondary School Rowing Association Championships in St. Catharines, Ontario recently.
Du Toit is one of only two returning members from last year’s silver medal winning boat in the same category. This year, her crew qualified for the final with a first place finish in its heat and close second place finish to Ontario’s Branksome Hall School in the semifinal. As payback, this was the same team Shawnigan beat in the final.
An unexpected contender for gold, du Toit and her teammates revelled in the intensity of the close competition with Branksome Hall, but tried to remain level-headed about their final race. “The coaches from both schools know each other so there was definitely a competitive feeling,” said du Toit. “But going into the finals, I really just wanted to race well and make my coach proud. I just thought about it one stroke at a time, which made the end that much more exciting.”
In a neck-and-neck final the girls from Shawnigan edged out their competition with a 7:47.99 finish, a full two-second lead on Branksome Hall, to capture the gold medal. “Winning gold was the most amazing feeling,” added du Toit. “The sense of accomplishment was so overwhelming, especially because there were some crews from the United States which were pretty intimidating. It still hasn’t really sunk in for me. The best part was that we all really wanted it for each other as well. I couldn’t have asked for better girls to stand on the podium with.”
Having grown up in Powell River, du Toit was introduced to rowing at Shawnigan and is considered relatively new to the sport with only two years under her belt. “I started rowing in grade nine and became a coxswain in April of that year. I wanted to try it out and it has become a rewarding experience in an amazing sport that I didn’t even know about before Shawnigan. I was addicted after my first regatta.”
As “coxie” in the boat du Toit may not have an oar in her hands but she is integral to the crew’s success and one could call her the brains of the boat. “I am responsible for steering the boat and making technical and encouraging calls to the rowers during the race,” the grade 10 student explained. “My position is challenging because I am responsible for what goes on in the boat at all times.”
The high pressure coxing position does not come without job hazards. “I’m usually the only one who loses her voice by the end.”
The championships are held annually the first weekend of June at the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta and is the largest high school regatta in Canada, possibly North America. The event is open to high schools across the continent with crews from as far as British Columbia and Mexico competing.
