The team of 22 travelled from Jindabyne to Sydney for the Chinese New Year Dragon Boat Festival.

The team faced four rounds of tough competition which was not helped when its sweep, principal Andrew Rostron, abandoned them mid race when he lost his balance and had a dip in Sydney Harbour. The team continued and managed a third place finish in this round. They then won each successive round with an ever increasing margin.

In the final, the students posted their fastest time of the day, winning the race by over two seconds.

The SMGS team will now compete in the Canberra Championships on March 14 and the NSW Championships in Penrith on March 28.

The team was also invited to represent NSW at the Australian Championships in April, but owing to the prohibitive cost of travel, they have declined the invitation.