World champion rowers missing
Dual world champion women’s lightweight double scullers Julia Edward and Sophie Mackenzie are taking a year away from the sport.
The crewmates weren’t named as part of Rowing New Zealand’s summer training squad yesterday, after being world champions in 2014 and and 2015.
They were fourth in the A final at the Rio Olympics and Rowing NZ high performance director Alan Cotter said the duo were taking a year off rowing.
‘‘They will want to be coming back in again next year,’’ Cotter said. ‘‘They’ll have to front at the RPC [Regional Performance Centre] trials in September next year to see what sort of condition they’re in, and see whether they come back in the summer squad or through the RPCS.’’
As expected, 2014 world champion women’s single sculler Emma Twigg hasn’t been named, with Cotter saying she will spend the next two years overseas.
Twigg was also fourth in her final in Rio and indicated immediately after that she was likely to retire, aged 29, but Cotter said the veteran sculler hasn’t yet retired.
‘‘She’s gone back overseas, back to Europe and she’s looking at two years in Europe,’’ Cotter said.
Twigg spent time in the UK and Europe in 2014 and 2015 earning a Fifa Masters degree in sports management, which saw her left out of the Rowing NZ team in 2015. She had to qualify for Rio at the ‘last chance’ regatta in Switzerland in May.
Cotter said veteran men’s lightweight Peter Taylor is retiring. The 2012 London Olympic bronze medallist was part of the NZ men’s lightweight four that was also fourth in Rio when favoured to win gold.
Included in the squad of 56 athletes are Rio gold medallists Mahe Drysdale (men’s single scull) and Hamish Bond and Eric Murray (men’s pair) - none of who have made a decision regarding their future in the sport.
That trio, along with any other Kiwi rowers that have competed at at least two Olympic Games, have until November 18 to accept their place in the 2016-17 summer squad. Others have until October 3 to confirm their acceptance, with fulltime training starting at Lake Karapiro on October 31.
Rowing NZ has named 31 men and 25 women in the squad, with Fisa looking to make changes to the balance of the Olympic programme for the 2020 Games in Tokyo.
It’s expected there will be a change from the current set-up of eight men’s Olympic classes and six women’s events, to a seven/ seven split, with the men’s lightweight four class in danger of being dumped and a women’s four class added to the Olympic schedule.