Good showing from Huskies’ Goodger
Kirstyn Goodger may soon have the best of both rowing worlds.
The University of Washington athlete was part of the winning Bryan Gould Cup crew in the women’s eights event at the Gallagher Great Race on the Waikato River in Hamilton yesterday.
And Goodger is hopeful to now make her mark at national and international level for New Zealand after finishing her collegiate career on a high.
The former Aucklander won a silver medal representing NZ at the junior world champs in France in 2009 and now has her sights set on getting back in the mix at senior level.
‘‘I flew over early to trial for RPCs [Regional Performance Centres],’’ Goodger said.
‘‘I’m trying to get back into the Rowing New Zealand system, so hopefully they’ll take a look at me after today.’
That would seem likely, after she was part of the crew that upset hosts and favourites Waikato University, who featured recent world champions Zoe Stevenson and Kayla Pratt, and Melbourne University yesterday. Stevenson was part of the same silver-winning eight with Goodger in 2009.
Washington had to concede the lead to Waikato at the start but immediately pushed the hosts fiercely throughout the 3.85km upstream race.
When the Washington boat lost momentum after an oar hit an overhanging branch on the west bank, it appeared their chance was lost, but they moved up again, forced the hosts out into the middle of the current and raced past in the dying stages to win.
‘‘We had a couple of different tactics that we’d discussed, based on the start,’’ Goodger said.
‘‘We knew that if we got into second place, the only way we’re going to pull through in that race was if we just constantly pushed on them, put them through a lot of pressure and then put them in a place where it was extremely uncomfortable.
‘‘And then when it was time to go, it was time to go.’’
Goodger said the crew had immense faith in coxswain Marlow Mizer to guide them. ‘‘We trusted her completely and she took us right where we needed to go. We did have the confidence to get back up on them – we knew that we had a quick sprint.’’