Behind every dramatic finish and nail-biting close call at a New Zealand rowing regatta, there is a voice helping spectators make sense of what they are watching. Four commentators reflect on what drew them to the microphone and what keeps them coming back.
Kirsty Dunhill's path to commentary began with an offhand remark. After the 2009 New Zealand Rowing Championships in Twizel, she told fellow commentator John Howard that the job looked "fun and easy" and admitted she was quite taken with the idea of a free lunch. Howard remembered the comment, and by the 2009 Xmas Regatta, Kirsty was behind the microphone for the first time.
"I thought it sounded like a dream to be locked away in the control tower where nobody could get at you," she says. "But the spectators could certainly see you, which I found a little more daunting than I first thought."
More than 15 years on, Kirsty is Head of Rowing at St Cuthbert's College in Auckland and one of the sport's most experienced on-course voices. A former coxswain with almost four decades in rowing, she makes a point of not commentating races involving St Cuthbert's crews and has a particular fondness for calling the novice eight finals at Maadi. "It's important to engage with first-time rowers and their supporters," she says.
Her advice to anyone wanting to follow her path: prepare names properly, don't fixate on one boat, and remember that every commentator has their own individual style.
Ian Cartwright came to rowing through his son Alex, who rowed for Shirley Boys' High School. After Alex finished competing, Ian and his wife stayed involved as volunteers, and it was his wife who spotted his potential. A conversation with Peter Midgley led to Ian's debut at the 2019 Canterbury Championships, and he has since become a familiar voice at Lake Ruataniwha and national regattas around the country. His rapid-fire delivery, which some have likened to horse racing commentary, has earned a reputation for lifting the excitement whenever racing gets tight.
His philosophy is straightforward: inform, engage, and entertain, making sure no crew goes unacknowledged. "Many of the regattas I cover are school regattas, and those athletes have got there with the support of their families," he explains. "If a parent has a child sitting seventh, they still deserve to know where their son or daughter is in the race."
His standout call is the 2023 Maadi Cup final between St Bede's College and Hamilton Boys' High School, separated by just 0.06 seconds. It is a race that Mark Watson also rates as a career highlight.
Watson is an experienced broadcaster who has called an Olympic 100m final, yet he describes the Maadi Regatta as ranking among his proudest moments at any microphone. "There is such history and tradition around the event, and every time I get to cover a Maadi Regatta, I feel incredibly privileged to be associated with it. More broadly, the legacy of New Zealand rowing as our most successful Olympic sport is never lost on me."
His approach leans on partnership. "I'm no rowing expert, so I like to have someone from the rowing community alongside me to share that knowledge," he says. "I'm not afraid to ask questions like, 'What does that mean for a non-rowing aficionado?' while also hoping to offer something for the rowing diehard." He covers the Maadi Regatta, New Zealand Rowing Championships, New Zealand University Championships, and the Rowing New Zealand Beach Sprint Championships, and his ultimate ambition is an Olympic Eights final.
The newest voice among the four is Megan Glenn, a Waikato Rowing Club coach and personal fitness trainer with more than 20 years in the sport. The Altitude HD livestream team spotted her at the 2025 New Zealand Rowing Championships and invited her to try the microphone at the 2025 North Island Secondary Schools Championships at Lake Karapiro. She took to it immediately.
"I find when I'm commentating, I'm doing five things at once, but that's where I thrive," she says. Drawn to unpredictable races and the organised chaos of the commentary booth, Megan's standout moment came during the surprise victory of Callum Tutbury and Arie Magasiva in the men's premier double sculls at the 2026 New Zealand Rowing Championships. "It was a real upset because they beat everyone from the summer squad. It was an awesome race in horrible conditions." Both athletes have since earned selection for the New Zealand team.
Her sights are already set further ahead. "I would love the challenge of one day stepping up to international commentary. Hopefully, one day I'll get the call from World Rowing."
