NZ rowing legends advise our Rotorua rowers

SENT TO The daily post 15.6.10

 

Rotorua has never had a rower selected to row for New Zealand, at  an Under 23 World Championship and this year we have two. Laura Fischer and Julia Edward will compete in Breast, Belarus (22- 25 July 2010).And 2010 is a special year for Rotorua Rowing as the club also has  rower Nigel Van Den Akker representing New Zealand at the 2010 Junior World Rowing Championships in  Racice, Czech Republic (4-8 August 2010).  When asked ‘What would be the Number one tip you would give a rower going to an international event?’ Mahé Drysdale, four-time World Champion Single Sculls, had these personal words for our Rotorua rowing stars…

“Number one tip would be enjoy yourself and the experience. Treat it like a local regatta at home so you don’t get over-awed by the regatta- and race your heart out. If you give it 100%, no matter the result , you have to be satisfied.”

Drysdale who  has won 4 consecutive World Rowing Championship Gold Medals from 2006 , is off to the Worlds, june 7th.Drysdale began rowing at university at the age of 18. He gave up rowing to concentrate on his studies, but began rowing again after watching fellow New Zealander Rob Waddell win gold at the 2000 Olympic Games. Although sick on the day of the final, Mahe still managed, in a courageous effort, to win the Bronze medal for the Single Scull at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

“My best effort at a World Rowing Championships was third”

 Olympian rower Eric Verdonk says modestly. Now 51, Eric won 7 New Zealand rowing championship titles in a row and a bronze medal  for the single scull at the Seoul Olympics in 1988. Verdonk didn’t start rowing in a single- he did 5 years in ‘eights’ and ‘fours’. At the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, he won bronze in a race won by rowing legend Stephen Redgrave. Verdonk is a very  strategic rower.

“Don’t use all your energy in the first race or there will be nothing left for the last race and you get ‘the money’ in the last race” he says.“If you’re not in the final you can’t win.”

 

“Competing on the international arena is exciting and challenging”

 says Olympic Gold Medal winning rower Rob Waddell

“ You will learn a lot about yourself and find ways to improve in your sport.”

Waddell,35, holds the fastest 2000 meter indoor rowing machine time in the world, clocking a time of 5 mins 36.6secs (5:36.6). He also holds the record for 5000m on the rowing machine with a time of 14:58. This made him the first person to go sub 15min for this distance. But Kiwis are more familiar with Waddell’s rowing expertise on the water. He won 2 World Championship Gold medals for the Single Sculls - in 1998 and 1999 and the Gold for the Single Sculls at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.Waddell wished Van Den Akker , Edward and Fischer luck and had this advice for them ;

·         “Practice excellence daily- we are what we do repeatedly.   

·         It’s not meant to be easy, training will be grueling, just get used to it

·         Your races will be won or lost by the quality of your preparation beforehand.

·         Don’t go in hoping to do well, go in knowing you are going to.

·         Forget about the outcome and focus on the only thing that matters – making a boat go fast.

·         Lastly, a quote from Sir Ed, ‘It’s not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves” . ”

 

Our 3 rowers pay their own way until they graduate from the Under 23 team and make the ‘big time’; like Mahe Drysdale and  past legendary rowers  Eric Verdonk and Rob Waddell, and join the Rowing New Zealand Elite Squad. Each rower will have to pay $7,500.00, to go to their respective World Champs. This is made particularly difficult by the short 10 week time frame they have, to raise the total amount. The stress of this looms over these young people while they are training 3 times a day. They are already situated at Rowing New Zealand’s training Centre at Lake Karapiro and are unable to fundraise for their trip.