Bronze ample repayment for coach

Press, 7 November 1978, Page 34

Bronze ample repayment for coach

By

TIM DUNBAR

Harry Mahon wants to] forget all about rowing for a while after spending the last ■three months coaching the New Zealand bronze medallist eight for the world i championships at Lake . Karapiro. For five weeks he has had ■to forsake his teaching job .to give his full-time energy ■to the crew, unpaid. Now he' twill have to turn his mind I back to maps, climates and populations. His Waikato eight will be defending its eight-oared * title at the nationals at Lake? Waihola this season. al-| though Mr Mahon is in no i hurry to get this crew to-! gether. ! Mr Mahon, who must be; heartily sick of being des- I cribed as “balding” by vir-l tually every rowing writer : in the country, has done a! tremendous job in his brief; two-year period as the coach’ of New Zealand's top crew. Last year he guided the New Zealand coxless four!' (David Lindstrom, Des Lock.; Ivan Sutherland and David; Rodger) to a silver medal at; the world championships in; Amsterdam and this time' the same four were in the] eight, that took the bronze,; exactly the same as the; ; Rusty Robertson-coached ; I crews of 1974, 1975 andl U 976. I He hopes that all members i ' of the eight will be available i again next year when, according to convener of the | national selectors (Mr Fred I Strachan), a senior eight will definitely be sent to the chcampionships at Bled, Yugoslavia. Will he be available to coach the eight again? “I don’t mind what crew I coach, it’s the men in the boat that matter,” said Mr Mahon after rhe eights final had been raced. Snaring a bronze in a very classy field was a great achievement by the local crew and Mr Mahon said it was incredible that four crews — East and West Germany, New Zealand and Australia — all went under 6min in spite of the headwind. “It’s a pity we can't break that record, though,” said Mr Mahon in reference to New Zealand winning its fourth successive bronze in a world championships or Olympic Games. Some months ago Mr; Strachan was considering' stepping down from the post; of national convener he has! held since. 1966. On Friday,! though, he was re-appointed j for another two-year term,! which will take him past the | Moscow Olympics — his; I fifth as a selector. ' No women’s crew has'

1 competed in Europe since the world championship-- at Lucerne in 1974. Reconsideration of the value in sending them away is now under way, however! Both the women's eight and four took seventh place in their events at Karapiro and they showed improvement with evert, race'. Ihe four (Christine Hamilton. ; stroke, Glenda Rodger. StepI hanie Foster and Marion Horwell) actually had the second-fastest time over-all but was unfortunate to be only competing in the conIsolation final. j “We will have to examine jit (sending women away) ; very carefully,” said Mr I Strachan. i “We don't want to disI courage them and they have improved a hell of a lot.” The possibility of .Australian competition next season ’is one idea but Mr Strachan [says he is “more inclined to give them a chance for Europe.” | Obviously, in spite of the protestations of male chau- ; vinist rowers, the sports fra jternity has to finally accept that oarswomen are now a | fact of life. ; “We have to make sure that the women in the clubs ; stop getting the worst boats, gear and coaches — and in some case no coaches at all,” Mr Strachan said. His panel will also be examining the possibility of sending a four or eight to the 1979 junior (under-19) world championships at Msocow. Generally, there should be “scope for a few young blokes to come on” and Mr Strachan says a couple of small boats could be sent to Bled. “The scullers (last overseas in 1975) have done enough for us to give them a little bit of help alone this tinje, 1 suppose,” he added. Mr Strachan is a little doubtful as to whether Noel Mills, bow man of the eight, will want to go overseas next year. Mills, aged 34, first competed in a world championship in Canada eight years ago but Lake Karapiro was his first appearance for New Zealand since he and Wybo Veldman took the coxless pairs silver medal at the European championships in j Moscow in 1973. ; Mr Strachan is happy 'though that Mark James, 'a (red-headed Hamilton youngster, has stepped so capably ! into the stroke seat filled bv j the great Tony Hurt in the I past. i “James made it here and I the responsibility of a stroke lis less of a worry now,” 'said Mr Strachan