Rowers eye world champs

Press, 25 July 1986, Page 21

Rowers eye world champs

By TOM BRIDGMAN NZPA staff correspondent Edinburgh

The world rowing championships at Nott? Ingham are a spur to many of the competitors at the Edinburgh Commonwealth Games. The New Zealand contingent for the world championships, which start after the Games, is to be decided by performances at the Strathclyde Games venue about 40 miles west of Edinburgh. The New Zealand rowing manager, Dudley Storey, said that the world championships were at the back of the minds of virtually all competitors in the Commonwealth Games rowing.

The Games racing was a final tune-up for the world championships, he said.

Mr Storey said that, unlike some of the Commonwealth Games events, true top inter-national-standard competition was guaranteed with Olympic and world championship rowers in all the main teams — New Zealand, Australia, Canada and England. Even though the world championships were the goal for many it in no way meant there would be any less determination to produce the best at Edinburgh.

“We still want to be in the medals,” said Mr Storey. He also made it clear that not only the New Zealanders were striving to get picked for the world championships and so all teams would be producing their best . “The performances of the Australians, ourselves and the Canadians determine whether they go to Nottingham,” said Mr Storey.

He said that .other teams, such as 'New Zealand, had difficulty raising money to get to international competition.