Sculling, when done well, is utter perfection. I can only imagine that the final of the Senior Men’s Quadruple Sculls at the North Island Club Championships will be exactly that. Eight crews, sixty-four blades and thirty-two men showing their skills to determine who will turn up to Lake Karapiro for nationals as the North Island Champion. With senior men’s racing, we could see a wide variety of scullers enter this field, and that is what excites me most. Will we have a school-age champion, an experienced club crew or a fine set of technical seniors make this event their own? Will 2026 shake up the landscape of the Senior Men’s Quad, or will it be much of the same as 2025? Six minutes of racing down Lake Karapiro and we will have our answer, sit tight folks, the Senior Men’s Quad could be an all-time spectacle.
Clifton Rowing Club
People outside of the sport always assume rowing to be a sport dominated by the ‘bigger’ clubs in the sport, and yes, for the most part, that is usually the case, but not always. That exception to the rule could well happen in this very event. The first crew I want to outline for the Senior Men’s Quad is a crew from Taranaki: Clifton Rowing Club. Training on the Waitara River, you’ll find this crew who have found their rhythm and have proved what they can do in a quadruple. I, for one, love it when a crew from a so-called ‘smaller’ club turns up and upsets the status quo. This crew highlights the shared dedication to their craft, and this is evident in the Senior Men’s Quad out of Clifton, which has four true oarsmen; technical brilliance is evident at the end of these eight blades. Jason Williams and Greg Cox hold knowledge around the craft of sculling like not many others, and under their guidance, this crew is up and humming. Before Christmas, Clifton had a very strong finish in this event, finishing not much more than a boat length behind Waikato, who were in second. The makeup of this crew is exciting, with bowman, Brody Leicester, a young U18 sculler to watch out for. Coming from a superb novice season, which saw him pick up a silver medal at the 2025 Maadi Regatta in the U17 Double, Leicester has continued that form in the U18 Double at last month’s Christmas Regatta. Leicester will be looking to continue his fine form in all events at the North Island Club Championships to push for future honours, and the Senior Men’s Quad definitely will not hinder his prospects. In the engine room of this quad sits Clayton Potts, an equally fine sculler. Potts, also a New Plymouth Boys’ alumnus, has shown that in 2026 he will be continuing to build on the solid base he has already shown in previous years since moving into the club scene. Potts also showed his form in smaller boats with two second places at the Christmas Regatta earlier in the season in the Men’s Open Single and Men’s Senior Double. Potts and Leicester, along with the rest of their crew, have proven just how fine the sculling program is coming out of Clifton Rowing Club. The light blue of Clifton Rowing Club might just have very high chances coming down Lake Karapiro.
Waikato Rowing Club
Most clubs would love to pick between either a fast Club Coxless Quad or a fast Senior Coxless Quad; Waikato Rowing Club have both. Making them one of the front-runners for the Senior Men’s Quad at this year’s North Island Championships. Barring a Rowing New Zealand crew, Waikato book-ended the crews in the Open Quad at the Christmas regatta, adding another crew to the mix here, while also winning the Club Quad. With at least twelve oarsmen to choose from, whatever the make-up is of the Waikato Senior Quadruple, you know it will be right near the very top. Out of the oarsmen in their Open Quadruple from the Christmas Regatta, take your pick as to who you think keeps this crew ticking; they all showed their technical brilliance in the Premier Single Scull earlier in the season. The two fine scullers I have chosen to discuss in further detail here are Sebastian Fulton and Ethan Claridge. Claridge, a sculler originally out of Hawkes Bay, now finds himself in the traffic-light row suit of the Waikato Club. The move to Waikato has come to fruition so far this season with the aforementioned performance in the Open Quadruple Sculls, alongside promising showings in the Premier Single and the Open Coxless Four. Claridge has shown glimpses of his true speed and will be wanting to build on that as his North Island Club Championships progresses. Alongside Claridge, is the stroke of the quad Fulton. Fulton too had a busy programme at the Christmas Regatta, also performing admirably in the Premier Single, but he also showed his qualities with an excellent showing in the Premier Double. Fulton has proven his credentials as a top-class sculler, and some silverware at the North Island Club Championships could really cement this. Fulton and Claridge are joined by Ryan Gass and Gerard Wall, who both deserve similar levels of praise and could have regattas to shape their future in the sport. Alongside these current members of the Senior Men’s Quad are the members of one of JRN’s crews to watch, the Waikato Club Quadruple Sculls. With these four scullers vying for a seat in the Senior Quad, you know the seat racing over the summer would have been scintillating. Whoever makes up the Senior Quad at the North Island Club Championships, the Waikato Club Crew will be one to chase down.
Tauranga Rowing Club
We travel to the beautiful Bay of Plenty for the final crew I wish to outline for the Senior Men’s Quad for the first major regatta of 2026. Coming out of the Tauranga Rowing Club, you will find four scullers who will have had a formative Christmas period, no doubt. The stern pair of this Senior Men’s Quad is where I want to focus in this feature. The stern pair sets up this crew beautifully, and the make-up of this stern pair could compete with most competition: Luke Berquist and James Hollard. Berquist and Hollard competed as a Premier Double at December’s Christmas Regatta, where they pipped Waikato’s Gass and Fulton. Look out for these four scullers to have many more battles at this regatta and beyond across multiple disciplines. As a mechanical engineering student, Berquist has an affinity for motors and engines, and his own motor roared in the Premier Single to cap off a wonderful Christmas Regatta for the sculler originally out of Whakatane. Hollard, also a prodigious sculler, and not one to be outdone by Berquist, showed the form which took him to New Zealand colours two years ago with a very impressive showing in the Premier Single. Hollard finished his busy regatta with a crisp showing in the Open Coxless Pair, showing he can sweep and scull. Coaches Simon Aubrey and Troy Page will be wanting to show the quad they have been moulding into a champion crew and walk away at the conclusion with a spot on the dais to show for it. Can Tauranga Club upset a few and storm home in the Senior Men’s Quad?
Notable Mentions
Racing would never be as fun as it could be if the favourites ended up on the podium for every single event, so it would be amiss of me not to mention a few other crews who I think could upset the waters. St George’s Club had a very strong showing in the Senior Men’s Quad at the Christmas Regatta and if we are to see a school aged crew have a crack at the Senior Men’s Quad I would look at the two Catholic Schools out of Auckland – St Peter’s College, racing in West End row suits, and Sacred Heart College, racing in Auckland Rowing Club row suits.
Predictions
When the finishing hooter sounds over Lake Karapiro, I believe Waikato Club will be crowned North Island Champions in the Senior Men’s Quad. The best chance to upset them? Clifton Rowing Club. They could well prove their technicians have what it takes to get it done. You could throw a blanket over the rest of the field, but I think St George’s might just sneak ahead to claim bronze. Whatever the outcome in the Senior Men’s Quad, I know the field is full of bright young scullers, so this side of the rowing world is in good hands.
