Kiwi pair break world record with Cup win

New Zealand rowers Kerri Gowler and Grace Prendergast have been grabbing titles for four years now and stayed in the winning groove with a fine performance in the pair at the World Cup regatta in Poznan, Poland, last night.

The pair got New Zealand’s first medal on the final night of the second Cup regatta of the season, winning the pair in a world record time of 6m 49.08s.

That success was quickly followed by the men’s double scull of Chris Harris and John Storey, and the women’s double of Olivia Loe and Brooke Donoghue as New Zealand made their presence felt after sitting out the first Cup regatta of the season.

Gowler and Prendergast’s partnership first bore fruit at the world under-23 championships in 2014, winning gold, and they were part of the gold medal-winning four at the world championships that year, and won the pair silver at the worlds the following year.

Last night, having started in lane four next to Gowler’s sister Jackie and Kirstyn Goodger, they had their noses in front after 100m and simply ran away with the race.

The United States pair of Megan Kalmoe and Tracey Eisser were second in 6m 54.61s, with Australians Sarah Hawe and Molly Goodman third in 7m 03.68s. New Zealand’s second crew finished fifth in 7m 07.16s.

Harris and Storey had the lead by 1000m and held on to win well, 3s ahead of Norway, with Poland taking third place.

Loe and Donoghue rowed strongly, and held off China to win in 6m 39.13s, a World Cup best time, with Australia third.

And the New Zealand women’s eight then added another title to the growing haul with victory in 6m 01.27s, taking charge with a strong third quarter. Britain took second by 1.04s and the United States were third.

Lightweight single sculler Jackie Kiddle collected New Zealand’s first gold of the regatta. Kiddle was sixth at the 500m mark in the non-Olympic class before winning in a photo finish.