Team confirmed for Sydney World Cup
New Zealand Rowing Team confirmed for Sydney World Cup
Rowing New Zealand announced the Sydney World Cup rowing team which is 41-athletes strong and made up of ten boats that will compete at the first World Cup regatta which begins on 22 March.
Heading the team to Sydney is 2012 Olympic gold medalist Nathan Cohen in the Men’s quadruple scull. Nathan Cohen will be joined by his younger brother Hayden Cohen, alongside Nathan Flannery and Fergus Fauvel. This was the same crew that represented the Southern RPC at the 2013 BankLink New Zealand Rowing Championships and took the gold - this is a proven combination.
Cohen is excited about the change after having two Olympic campaigns in the double scull “These guys in the quad have such enthusiasm, hunger and drive to perform. I hopefully can add some experience to the team but they are keeping me young and fresh and don’t make my life easy by training extremely hard.”
The single sculls spot remains absent while Mahé Drysdale is on sabbatical until July where he will trial to be selected for the 2013 World Rowing Championships being held in South Korea in August.
2012 Olympic Bronze medalist Peter Taylor will compete in a new boat, in the men’s lightweight coxless four alongside new team mates Curtis Rapley, James Hunter and James Lassche. There is no crew representing New Zealand in the men’s lightweight double scull.
Taylor has made a switch from a sculling to sweep oar boat and is really excited about the move “I grew up sweep rowing, and I’ve always had a passion for it. This team is so passionate and has so much potential. I can bring experience, but my team brings so much enthusiasm, intensity and a no limits attitude and I know they will push themselves to the edge, they inspire me and I’m looking forward to the 2013 season.”
Fiona Bourke and Zoe Stevenson will make up the women’s heavyweight double scull. Bourke has Olympic experience, while Stevenson was a reserve in 2012. In the lightweight women’s double sculls Julia Edward remains but will race with Lucy Strack
The Men’s double scull is a new look team, with Robbie Manson and Michael Arms teaming up in the hope to live up to the expectations that were set before them by Joseph Sullivan and Nathan Cohen.
London Olympian Sarah Gray remains in the women’s quadruple scull but teams up with Erin-Monique Shelton, Genevieve Armstrong, Georgia Perry.
The Men’s Coxless Four which will be coached by Noel Donaldson is lead by Olympian Jade Uru. He crews up with Bobby Kells, Adam Tripp and Tobias Wehr-Candler.
A Men’s and a Women’s eight will feature in the World Cup. The men’s eight will be represented by an Under 23 crew.
The Men’s Pair combination of Hamish Bond and Eric Murray will remain home to continue training, as will Emma Twigg who was selected in the women’s single scull. Rebecca Scown has a new teammate in the women’s coxless pair, Kayla Pratt but they will also remain in New Zealand.
Rowing New Zealand High Performance Manager Alan Cotter on today’s announcement said “the team named contains three world champions and multiple medal winning elite, U23 and junior world championship rowers,”
“Rowing NZ want to build and develop the team over the next four year cycle and beyond. 2012 was obviously hugely successful for our squad, but we need to keep building on this to cement New Zealand’s’ place as one of the top rowing nations in the world.”
Cotter commented on 2012 Olympic gold medalist Joseph Sullivan not being named in the rowing team ‘‘it was a very tough conversation. Joe is an immensely proud New Zealander, but he realises the time he took out from the sport to complete the Coast to Coast may have put him behind the required standard. Joseph will continue to train with the squad at Lake Karapiro and will be available for retrial in July.’’
Richard Tonks will be in charge of the women’s squad heading to Sydney. Calvin Ferguson leads the men’s sculling squad and Noel Donaldson and Men’s sweep squad.
New Zealand Rowers have won 99 World Cup medals since 1997 when Rob Waddell won the first bronze in Lucerne. Overall 50 of those medals were Gold, 35 Silver and 14 Bronze medals at World Cup events. New Zealand’s most successful result at a World Cup was in Hamburg in 2011 where New Zealand crews won five gold and three silver medals.
SYDNEY WORLD CUP ROWING TEAM
Women’s Lightweight Double Scull
Julia Edward (Waikato RPC, Roturua RC)
Lucy Strack (Southern RPC, North End RC)
Coach: Dick Tonks
Women’s Double Scull
Fiona Bourke (Southern RPC, Otago Uni RC)
Zoe Stevenson (Waikato RPC, Tauranga RC)
Coach: Dick Tonks
Women’s Quad
Erin-Monique Shelton (Central RPC, Petone RC)
Genevieve Armstrong (Waikato RPC, Tauranga RC)
Georgia Perry (Waikato RPC, Cambridge RC)
Sarah Gray (Waikato RPC, Waikato RC)
Coach: Dick Tonks
Women’s Eight
Kelsey Bevan (Auckland RPC, Counties Manukau RC)
Genevieve Behrent (Southern RPC, Waihopai RC)
Eve Macfarlane (Southern RPC, Canterbury RC)
Jessica Loe (Waikato RPC, Waikato RC)
Kerri Gowler (Central RPC, Aramoho Wanganui RC)
Grace Prendergast (Southern RPC, Avon RC)
Louise Ayling (Southern RPC, Waihopai RC)
Linda Matthews (Central RPC, Star BC)
Cox Laura Campbell
Coach: Dick Tonks
Men’s Lightweight Single Scull
Duncan Grant (Central RPC, Wairau RC)
Men’s Double Scull
Robbie Manson (Central RPC, Wairau RC)
Michael Arms (Auckland RPC, Auckland Grammar RC)
Coach: Calvin Ferguson
Men’s Coxless Four
Bobby Kells (Auckland RPC, North Shore RC)
Adam Tripp (Auckland RPC, Hawkes Bay RC)
Tobias Wehr-Candler (Waikato RPC, Wellington RC)
Jade Uru (Southern RPC, Waihopai RC)
Coach: Noel Donaldson
Men’s Quad
Hayden Cohen (Southern RPC, Invercargill RC)
Nathan Flannery (Southern RPC, Union RC)
Fergus Fauvel (Southern RPC, Otago Uni RC)
Nathan Cohen (Southern RPC, Invercargill RC)
Coach: Calvin Ferguson
Men’s Lightweight Coxless Four
Curtis Rapley (Waikato RPC, Tauranga RC)
Peter Taylor (Auckland RPC, Auckland RC)
James Hunter (Central RPC, Wellington RC)
James Lassche (Southern RPC, Avon RC)
Coach: Dave Thompson
Men’s Under 23 Eight
Stephen Jones (Auckland RPC, West End RC)
Brook Robertson (Central RPC, Nelson RC)
Alex Kennedy (Waikato RPC, Te Awamutu RC)
Joe Wright (Central RPC, Wellington RC)
Finn Howard (Auckland RPC, North Shore RC)
Shaun Kirkham (Waikato RPC, Waikato RC)
Isaac Grainger (Auckland RPC, Auckland RC)
Tom Murray (Central RPC, Blenheim RC)
Cox Caleb Shepherd (Waikato RPC, Waikato RC)
Coach: Ian Wright
Comments
There are no comments yet, would you like to have your say?