NZ announce World Rowing Championship Team
The 2019 Rowing NZ Elite team contesting the World Rowing Championships 25 August – 1 September in Linz, Austria has today been named. The team of 53 athletes and 17 support staff will arrive in Linz on 21 August for eight days of racing. New Zealand’s crew will be joining nearly 1200 athletes from 80 nations.
The main international competitions for the Rowing NZ High Performance programme are the Olympic Games (held every 4 years with the next Olympic Games held in Tokyo, 2020), the World Rowing Cup series, and the annual World Rowing Championships. The World Rowing Cup series comprises of three regattas held each year with overall winners being determined by points that are awarded to the top finishing boats at each event. New Zealand routinely attends World Rowing Cup II and III.
While FISA allows countries to send multiple crews to individual events at World Rowing Cup regattas, countries are limited to one entry per event for World Rowing Championships. This year’s regatta also acts as the qualification regatta for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Emma Twigg will compete in the women’s single after winning both World Rowing Cup II and III earlier this season, as well as the Princess Royal Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta. The event will be contested by 39 athletes.
Coached by Gary Hay, Grace Prendergast and Kerri Gowler will compete in the women’s pair and women’s eight. Prendergast and Gowler won the women’s pair event at World Rowing Cup II and the women’s eight at World Rowing Cup III. They also took silver in the women’s pair at World Rowing Cup III and won the Hambleden Pairs Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta.
The women’s eight World Rowing Cup III gold medaling crew remains unchanged with Jackie Gowler, Beth Ross, Kelsey Bevan, Lucy Spoors, Emma Dyke, Ella Greenslade and coxswain Caleb Shepherd alongside Prendergast and Gowler. The crew also won the Remenham Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta and are coached by Gary Hay.
Rowing NZ’s team includes a newly formed women’s quad, also coached by Gary Hay. The crew includes Hannah Osborne, Sam Voss, Ruby Tew and Kirstyn Goodger.
The women’s four will be racing for the first time as an Olympic qualification boat class and 16 countries have entered. Coached by Marion Horwell, New Zealand’s women’s four includes Phoebe Spoors, Eve Macfarlane, Kelsi Walters and Davina Waddy.
The World Rowing Championships will see the return of Olivia Loe and Brooke Donoghue in the women’s double after last competing internationally at World Rowing Cup II where they took gold. Earlier in the season Loe and Donoghue also won the Stonor Challenge Trophy at Henley Royal Regatta. Loe and Donoghue are coached by James Coote.
Also coached by James Coote, gold medalists at World Rowing Cup II and III Jackie Kiddle and Zoe McBride will again compete in the women’s lightweight double.
Sophie Mackenzie, previously selected in the women’s lightweight single scull for the 2019 season, will not compete due to injury.
After taking silver and bronze at World Rowing Cup II and III respectively, Michael Brake and Tom Murray will compete in the men’s pair. The pair are coached by Gary Roberts. Roberts will also coach a newly formed men’s four crew of Thomas Russel, Tom Mackintosh, Ian Seymour and Ben Taylor. Russel, Mackintosh and Taylor placed second in the men’s four at the recent World Rowing U23 Championships alongside Samuel Jones, while Seymour has been training with the men’s sweep programme in Corgeno, Italy.
Coached by Calvin Fergusion, Harrison Somerville and Matt Dunham will contest the men’s lightweight double scull and Chris Harris and John Storey will contest the men’s double scull. Ben van Dalen, also coached by Ferguson, will contest the men’s lightweight single scull.
After injury removed Lewis Hollows from the bronze medalling men’s quad at World Rowing Cup II, he rejoins Jordan Parry, Cameron Crampton and Nathan Flannery. The crew are coached by Mark Stallard.
After winning the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta and taking bronze at World Rowing Cup III, the New Zealand men’s eight crew remains unchanged with Stephen Jones, Matt MacDonald, Phillip Wilson, Brook Robertson, Mahe Drysdale, Shaun Kirkham, Hamish Bond, James Lassche and coxswain Sam Bosworth. The crew are coached by Tony O’Connor.
Coached by Mike Rodger, Robbie Manson will contest the men’s single scull. Manson placed fifth at World Rowing Cup III. New Zealand’s crew includes two-time Paralympian Gavin Foulsham in the PR2 men’s single. While this will be his first World Rowing Championships, Foulsham is no stranger to international competition having attended five World Championships between 1991 to 2006 as a wheelchair marathoner, as well as having competed in the 1992 to 2000 Paralympic Games in Barcelona and Sydney. Foulsham has trained under coach Ross Webb on the Clive River in Hawke’s Bay before travelling to Austria on 21 August.