Business House rowing has been reignited in Auckland with organisations being able to compete for the Thomson Memorial Cup. This Cup was competed for annually from 1938 through to 1996.
The structure of the event has been adapted from Invercargill Rowing Club.
The team will compete in an erg competition on Friday 31 March 2023 where 10 people will row 200 metres each. The team will aim to achieve the greatest distance over 2000 metres. Then the following day they will compete for the Thompson Memorial Cup in an eight doing a 500-metre rowing race on the water.
The programme is designed to provide an opportunity for organisations to participate in a 2-month rowing experience with the goal to encourage fitness, develop enthusiasm and respect for the sport of rowing, while potentially recruiting some new Masters rowers. Overall is should be fun and offer a team building experience.
Cognizant is a Technology Consultancy with a global footprint. The company has a range of technology including data, development ops, digital, managed services and cloud based solutions. At the beginning of February, 12 people joined the Business House rowing training programme out of St Georges Rowing Club. All of the team are total novices to rowing and do not belong to a rowing club. The two-month training is focused on teaching the basics of rowing and having fun doing something entirely different to everyday work. The team consists of IT experts, HR, Finance, Project Management, Sales and Senior Leadership.
The training is on the water and on the ergs at St Georges Rowing Club.
“Lorraine Anderson said to us, we have a novice competition happening, why don’t put a team together. Sure, we said let’s give it a go and I am so glad we did.
What a fun experience it has been so far, learning the techniques, how to work as a team and most of all a lot of laughs along the way.
Sue and Brett are whipping us into shape, Judy has the difficult job of trying to keep us in line and Lorraine, Trish and Mike give up their valuable time to help us out.
The support we have received from St George’s is amazing. The encouragement and time everyone is putting in to help us succeed is next level.
I have no hesitation in recommending this to anyone.”
Toni McColl
“I have always loved sports of all kinds and been very active over the years. I had never tried rowing so when the opportunity came up to try masters business house rowing I was really keen to try it. It has totally blown me away how much I enjoy the experience. Being on the water and working with the team is difficult but so rewarding, and trainign on the rowing machine is really challenging yet so addictive, I totally recommend this to anyone seeking a new challenge and wanting to gain fitness in a different and low impact way.”
Dale Wheeler
“The team are loving this exciting opportunity, leaning a new skill together in a fun relaxed environment. All club members that have been part of the journey are absolutley delightful – great coaching from engagin, encouraging, gorgeous individuals – thanks for introducing us to your wonderful sport.”
Jane Indries