Rowers training well

Press, 16 July 1983, Page 24

Rowers training well

The New Zealand rowing eight is averaging about 160 km a week in training at Lake Karapiro as it prepares to defend its world championship title at Duisburg, West Germany, in early September.

Under the successful coach, Mr Harry Mahon, the eight has been training at Karapiro since May 22 and is again looking capable of a good performance. From last year’s crew the only boating changes werein the bow section with the 1982 reserve, Barrie Mabbott, coming into the No. 3 seat and the Waikato youngster, Nigel Atherfold, taking over the bow seat. “The two new men have been absorbed into the cocoon of this competent racing machine and are completing all that is expected of them,” said the New

Zealand team manager, Mr Dudley Storey.

In fact, it seems that when the eight splits into fours the bow four (which includes Avon’s George Keys in No. 2 seat) has been a good match for the stern four.

Mr Storey said that the eight was now able to row non-stop for 45min with all the heart-rates up around 180 beats a minute. Meanwhile the New Zealand coxed four has been training under Mr Brian Hawthorne out of the R.N.Z.A.F. Rowing Club at Hobsonville. Like the eight last year this crew’s first priority is making the final at Duisburg, and then seeing if a -medal is a possibility. The four, which has spent some week-ends doing long miles at Mangakino or Karapiro, rows 150 km a

week. Two hours are spent training on week-days and four hours each Saturday and Sunday. Both crews are expected to spend the last two weeks before leaving for Europe on August 9 in full-time training at Karapiro. The four and the “spare man,” Allan Horan, will be asked to complete a time trail to help establish their true boat speed and the eight also intends to race across the 2000 m.

The team will spend more than two weeks training on the Ageri See in Switzerland and then arrive at Duisburg just four days before the world regatta begins on August 29. So far $4.3,000 of the ?83,000 needed to send the team away has been raised by rowing” in New Zealand.