Saturday morning's devastating earthquake in Christchurch has hit the rowing community with yet-to-be assessed, but almost certainly major damage to four clubs - Union, Avon, Canterbury and Christ's College - but key figures in the sport in Canterbury are inisting the show will go on, despite fears that rowing at Kerrs Reach could be halted for some time.

The light blue colours of Cambridge University (above) were first across the line in Hamilton today in the Gallagher Great Race, but there was a controversial start to the regatta after an early race slash cost rivals Waikato University dear on their home water.

Boat Race winners the University of Cambridge men's crew will be fielding a crew with more big race experience when they take on Waikato University in Hamilton’s Gallagher Great Race this Sunday – but it could be experience on the challenging course (above) that counts.

New Zealand’s rowing world champions (including FISA World Cup winners Rebecca Scown and Juliette Haigh above) are all set to come out in force for Hamilton’s Gallagher Great Race on September 5th to cheer on the home team from Waikato University.Four time world champion Mahé Drysdale and undisputed men’s pair world champion Eric Murray, as well as world champions and former Gallagher Great Race winners Duncan Grant, Olympic bronze medallist Nathan Twaddle, Rebecca Scown and Juliette Haigh and world champion lightweight double sculler Peter Taylor should all be out cheering their up and coming rowing colleagues on against Boat Race winners Cambridge University.

Organisers of September 5th’s Gallagher Great Race are laying on a special treat for Hamilton dads on Father’s Day – a chance to race their kids over the final few hundred metres of a world rowing championship final!

New Zealand rowers have been competing in the Youth Olympic rowing regatta this week, and although neither crew made the A final of their events, the experience was a very positive and promising one as they both came straight from the Junior World Championships to compete in Singapore.

Challenging conditions – a hard head and side wind which favoured the inside lanes – hampered New Zealand rowers’ efforts to win medals at the World Universities Rowing Championships in Szeged in Hungary over the weekend, but the small Kiwi team still came away with a bronze medal.

New Zealand took another medal in the Junior World Rowing Championships overnight - with the Junior men's quad capping a bitter sweet regatta for the team with a great bronze medal.

New Zealand's Junior women's four put the illness troubles that have affected the Kiwi team aside to win the world championship title last night in the Czech Republic with a stunning row in the World Junior Rowing Championship finals in Racice.

After a week of intensive trials in wet conditions at Lake Karapiro, Rowing New Zealand has announced a large team of 18 boats and 55 athletes – including both a men’s eight and women’s eight – for its attack on the medals at the forthcoming World Rowing Championships, which will, of course, be held on the team’s home water between October 31st and November 7th.

New Zealand's junior crews were in action again today at the Junior World Rowing Championships in Racice in the Czech Republic, with racing underway in B finals as well as semis.

The Junior men's double scull of Sean Watts, Oliver Behrent continued its impressive progress through the World Junior Rowing Championship regatta in Racice in the Czech Republic with a second place behind Germany in the quarter final.

With the announcement of the Elite team for the Karapiro World Championships imminent, it would be easy to overlook the efforts of the rowing team's youngest stars, but the New Zealand juniors have already staked their claim to a piece of the limelight with a brilliant start to the campaign at the World Junior Rowing Championships in the Czech Republic at Racice.

On the finishline Otago University lane 1, Pavia University lane 2, Princeton lane 3.

The ninth annual Gallagher Great Race in Hamilton will see the Boat Race winning University of Cambridge challenge the University of Waikato to the annual race on the Waikato river on Sunday 5 September 2010 as the region’s huge build up to the start of the rowing World Championships at Karapiro on October 31st begins.

A total of 49 countries have entered teams to take part in the 2010 World Rowing Junior Championships Racice, near Prague, in the Czech Republic from 5 to 8 August. Among the 214 crews entered, 26 will race in the men's single sculls, and 25 in the men's quadruple sculls, two events with the highest number of entries at this regatta. In total, 677 athletes shall be present in Racice next week.

The list of athletes who will be taking part in the final trial for the New Zealand team for the 2010 Rowing World Championship which will take place at Lake Karapiro between October 31 and november 7 has been announced. The trials will take place next week.

The build up to the rowing world championships continued this week as TVNZ's weatherman Tamati Coffey presented the morning's weather slots for the Breakfast programme from Lake Karapiro with plenty of information about the championships which begin on October 31st.

New Zealand's up and coming Under 23 girls rowed their way to two silver medals in Brest, Belarusia today, with the women's lightweight double scull of Julia Edward and Lucy Strack taking the runner up spot along with the women's eight on a solid but win-less day for New Zealand Rowing.Edward and Strack set the ball rolling for New Zealand with an inspirational silver medal to open the account and give a boost to the four crews that would race in finals later.

With the women's eight in a straight A final on Sunday, New Zealand has a further five chances for its to get themselves onto the dais at the Under 23 World Rowing Championship regatta - but there was disappointment for the coxed four, which just missed out on a medal today in Belarusia.

New Zealand crews progressed to the main final of the men's coxed fours and the semi final of the men's lightweight fours in Brest, Belarusia today at the Under 23 World Rowing Championships, and the women's eight demonstrated medal potential with a second place finish in the warm-up race for their straight final.

Three New Zealand crews - the men's double scull and women's lightweight double and single sculls - will progress straight to the semi finals after the first session of racing at the World Under 23 Rowing Championships in Brest, Belarusia - though we'll have to wait for more Kiwis to progress after bad weather stopped the rowing for much of the afternoon session.

Participation is still on the rise for the world's under 23 rowers as over 880 athletes have confirmed participation in this month's World Rowing Under 23 Championships to take place in Brest, Belarus from 22 to 25 July. In total, 56 nations have entered along with New Zealand. In 2009, 830 athletes from 56 countries were present, making this year yet another record breaking entry since the event took on World Championship status back in 2005.

An amazing day on the Rotsee saw New Zealand take three gold, one silver and two bronze medals at the final World Cup regatta in Lucerne before the rowing world championships head to Lake Karapiro in October.

They finished up winning 15 Golds, 3 Silver & 2 Bronze medals

New Zealand's rowing team took the stifling heat of the Rotsee in their stride as no fewer than eight Kiwi crews secured places in A finals today. With the women’s pair already confirmed, nine crews in finals was an international record for New Zealand rowing.Mahé Drysdale, the men's pair, the women's pair, the lightweight and heavyweight doubles, the women's quad, and both of the Kiwi coxless fours will all go for gold in Sunday’s finals, though there was disappointment for Duncan Grant in Saturday evening's lightweight single scull A final.

It was match racing at its best as the two countries went one on one over 2k

Lucerne's quarter finals on Friday evening saw world champion Mahé Drysdale, lightweight world champion Duncan Grant, the men's A four, Harriet Austin, the men’s quad and the men's heavyweight double scull of Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan all secure places in Saturday's semi finals.

New Zealand got it's Lucerne campaign off to a great start this morning with wins from Duncan Grant, the men's and women's pair, the men's lightweight double scull, the men's heavyweight double scull and a very eye-catching row by the young sweep oar squad in the second of New Zealand's current coxless fours.

The Rotsee in Lucerne this weekend plays host to the biggest ever World Cup regatta and a huge contingent of New Zealand boats will be looking for good results as they look ahead to the next time they race – the World Championships in New Zealand in just three and a half months.

A stunning background in clear blue skies greeted the New Zealand & Australian

New Zealand rowing crews bagged two wins at the Henley Royal Regatta today - courtesy of heavyweight world champions Mahe Drysdale and the men's pair of Eric Murray and Hamish Bond. The men's eight and women’s quad couldn’t quite repeat the performances of Saturday and had to settle for the runner up spots.

New Zealand elite rowers set tongues wagging in international rowing today with the men's eight comfortably beating the British crew that won the first World Cup regatta in Bled and setting up a clash in Sunday's final with the world champions in the men's eight from Germany. They will be joined in the Henley finals by Mahé Drysdale, the men's pair and the women's quadruple scull.

The New Zealand eight rowing in the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta knocked out the Cambridge Boat Race winners today - watched by an enthusiastic Princess Anne.The Princess Royal visited the regatta today to take in some of the racing and meet some of the star athletes. After watching the Kiwi eight defeat Cambridge in an impressive row, she took time out to talk with world champions Mahe Drysdale, Eric Murray and Hamish Bond and single sculler Emma Twigg.

New Zealand's elite crews have been in action today at the Henley Royal Regatta - with all performing well in the early stages of the regatta.Mahe Drysdale, Duncan Grant, the men's pair, light and heavy double sculls and the club eight from West End all progressed with wins - whilst Michael Arms and former squad member Carl Meyer lost their races in the Diamond Sculls.

New Zealand's elite crews have been training hard on the 2012 Olympic regatta course at Dorney near Windsor in preparation for this week's Henley Royal Regatta.The eight, which is running the Oxford boat race huill and is being coxed by Great8 steerswoman Ali Williams, has been drawn at the top of the Grand Challenge Eights field - one of the best assembled and including top class University crews, German, British and Canadian squad boats.

World champions in the men's pair, Eric Murray and Hamish Bond (above) are in the opposite side of the draw to arch rivals Andrew Triggs Hodge and Peter Reed for this week's Henley Royal Regatta.

World champion Hamish Bond has been named the 2009 New Zealand university sportsperson of the year. Bond was announced as the overall winner at the Blues Awards ceremony in Wellington, emerging victorious from a field of finalists which also included netballer Laura Langman, rugby player Stephen Donald, cyclist Jaime Nielsen, surf lifesaver Nikki Cox and Paralympic swimmer Cameron Leslie.

New Zealand's domination of pairs rowing continued at the Munich World Cup regatta, with Juliette Haigh sealing a fairytale comeback to the sport with a win alongside Rebecca Scown in the women's pair and world champions Eric Murray and Hamish Bond taking out an absolute thriller against the British pair to extend their winning streak over their main rivals to eight races. It was a good regatta for New Zealand's athletes, with two wins and two seconds following Duncan Grant's Saturday silver.

New Zealand's elite rowing crews performed well again on the first day of the second World Cup regatta in Munich with six boats progressing directly and some very promising performances for the new combinations.

EXCLUSIVE - Four time world champion Mahe Drysdale has decided not to race at the Munich World Cup regatta this weekend in Germany, despite some promising sessions on the water.

Six New Zealand boats made the A finals at the World Cup regatta in Munich on Saturday, but there was disappointment for Bled star Emma Twigg and the new look double scull of Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan with both producing disappointing rows and missing out on the A finals.

New Zealand's rowers are back in action this weekend in the second World Cup regatta in Munich, Germany, and it should be an exciting weekend with many new young blades cutting their international teeth for the first time alongside the established winners in the team.

It's the second round of the World Cup Rowing series at Munich this coming weekend, and rowing's partner Sky TV has released broadcast times for the regatta. Don't forget, the full team minus a couple of significant injured athletes - including Mahe Drysdale - will be racing so don't miss any of the action.

New Zealand's women's pair of Rebecca Scown and Juliette Haigh has joined a growing number of top flight national athletes to launch their own web site, and the girls have raised the bar with a creative and colourful site.

The next round of the popular Rowing New Zealand Winter Series of 2km races will take place on June 18, 19 and 20.

A piece of rowing history bid farewell to the sport yesterday when the start tower created for the 1978 Rowing World Championships - an iconic fixture produced largely through materials and raw effort donated by the rowing community

The brand new community facility - to be known as the Don Rowlands Centre - at the Mighty River Domain next to Lake Karapiro was officially unveiled at the lake on Tuesday along with a stunning new main entrance sculpture.

Hamish Bond and Eric Murray continued where they left off with a win against the British at the World Cup Regatta in Bled while Emma Twigg put in a blistering performance in the single to take a close silver.

The world champion pair of Hamish Bond and Eric Murray drew first blood last night in its 2010 battle with the British pair of Andrew Triggs Hodge and Peter Reed. The Brits led out, but in rough conditions the kiwis settled into a faster pace and dominated the second half. How hard the Brits were going in that part of the race is debatable, and the final tonight will show the crews' top pace.

The world champion men's pair of Eric Murray and Hamish Bond had a safe passage in the first World Cup regatta in Bled, Slovenia with a comfortable heat win.They were joined in the next round by sculler Emma Twigg, who won her heat to make a direct progression.

The much-awaited 2010 international rowing season gets underway this weekend at Bled with the first of three World Cup Regattas. Although most of the Kiwi team won't race until the second round in Munich, an advance party of athletes coached by Dick Tonks is making the trip to Slovenia to get the ball rolling for New Zealand this year.

Leading high performance sports apparel brand, 2XU, has confirmed that it will be the exclusive supplier to the New Zealand Rowing team up to and including the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The New Zealand Rowing team - the world’s most successful small boat rowing team with no fewer than six elite world champions and a host of up and coming Junior world medallists - has been carefully considering an Official Apparel Partner for some time.

Rowing New Zealand is seeking a RPC Administrator to be based in Christchurch working for the Regional Performance Centre South (The Ratas). Working within Rowing NZ High Performance programme and reporting to the Head Coach RPC South, this full time role is instrumental in the daily operations and management of the RPC.

A year of planning and preparation has helped Rowing New Zealand line up one of the most spectacular collections of sporting memorabilia ever assembled in the country for a fund raising auction to be held this coming Sunday in Auckland (May 16th).

The West End Senior Men need rowing's support to go to Henley Royal Regatta next month and are extending a general invitation to anyone who wants to attend their Henley-themed quiz night on 21 May 2010!

We were shocked and saddened today to learn of the passing of Tyler Sherman. From Wanganui, Tyler was a Junior World Champion and a Maadi Cup winner with Hamilton Boys. He was a well known and exceptionally popular member of the rowing community. Rowing New Zealand would like to extend its most sincere condolences to Tyler's family and many, many friends.

A top New Zealand rowing eight will race at the Henley Royal Regatta (above) for the first time in 30 years in 2010 – coincidentally the year the Rowing World Championships returns to New Zealand.

The next round of the Winter Series is looming and the event is now open for receipt of entries.

A piece of New Zealand and rowing sporting history is to go under the hammer at this year's annual BankLink Rowing New Zealand dinners.Double Olympic gold medallist Georgina Evers-Swindell (above) has donated her first single sculling boat - the hull in which she made her name in New Zealand as a top flight sculler - for the fundraising dinner auction that will take place at the event which takes place at the Chateau on the Park on May 6th.

The Under 21 team for the annual Youth Cup regatta has been announced by Rowing New Zealand.

Rowing New Zealand has announced the dates of its 2010 Annual BankLink Dinners - which this year have a real World Champion and World Championship feel about them as the countdown to Karapiro 2010 enters its final six months.

World Champions and Halberg Team of the Year winners Eric Murray and Hamish Bond are set to close off their unique Faceboat offering for rowing fans at the end of this week.

Rowing New Zealand has announced its 2010 Junior team. The squad of boats will consist of a junior women's coxless four and quad and a junior men's eight, double scull, coxed four and quad scull.

This year's annual Winter Series gets underway this weekend at Lake Karapiro. The national squad crews will all be taking part and the 2,000 metre races are open for anyone to enter.

The South Island junior rowing team made a little bit of history at the weekend, winning for the first time after a six year run by the North Island in the annual North vs South scrap.

There's another big weekend of rowing this weekend in New Zealand. Junior trials and the North Island vs South Island annual regatta at Lake Karapiro make for a full schedule at the World Championships venue, whilst Lake Waihola on the South Island plays host to all of the major University rowing teams as they battle it out for honours and for selection in the World Student Games teams.

Cambridge University - coached by New Zealander Chris Nilsson, overturned the odds to beat Oxford by clear water and win the 156th Boat Race. The Light Blues, who raced from the Middlesex station after losing the toss, tasted victory on the Tideway for the first time since 2007 under the direction of Nilsson, who coached the Kiwi four to world gold in 2007.

The North and South Island teams for this weekend's North South annual battle has been selected.

The selected trialists for the 2010 New Zealand Junior team have been announced today. North Island and South Island team trialists are also now published.

With the weather having dominated and decimated racing at the Aon Maadi Cup during the week, there was some relief when the A finals got underway on Saturday morning on calm waters - though under a very ominous sky.

Weather brought a halt to the A Finals at the Aon Maadi Cup regatta today after organisers had worked their way through the semis - but the weather looks more promising on Sunday for a bumper day of high quality junior rowing finals.

The blustery weather again played havoc with a busy Aon Maadi Cup racing programme today, leaving organisers with a real challenge on their hands to get the race programme completed. Sunday's are always kept vacant to take into account poor weather interrupting proceedings, but even with the extra day, the race programme has been badly hit by changeable winds and the resultant ocean-like conditions at the start.

Christ College U 18 quad wins the repechage by .3 of a second

The New Zealand secondary schools Aon Maadi Cup regatta got under way this week at Lake Ruataniwha despite some wild weather in the Mackenzie Basin. Hundreds of crews have been out racing, including newcomers Nga Tawa (above).

It's that time again when the biggest regatta in the Southern Hemisphere - the Aon Maadi Cup, aka the Aon Secondary Schools Rowing Championship - once again rolls into Twizel. This year the regatta runs from Monday March 22 through until Saturday March 27 at Lake Ruataniwha - with Sunday 28th being kept as the spare day for racing if bad weather hinders the scheduled programme.

Rowing New Zealand will send one of its biggest ever elite teams to Europe to compete in the international Word Cup Regattas and Henley Royal Regatta as part of the build up to the 2010 Rowing World Championships which will run at Lake Karapiro from October 31 to November 7 - and there have been some notable changes to the successful team that last raced internationally at the 2009 Poznan World Championships.

Trials for the Elite and Under 23 teams are underway at Lake Karapiro. The ergometer tests were held on Sunday and trials will proceed all week with the teams for the Under 23 World Championship being confirmed at the end of the week, and the Elite team for the World Cups only also being announced.

An innovative new talent identification scheme – Rowers2Rio - is all set to be pioneered by Rowing New Zealand in the Canterbury region – and the hope is that it will unearth some of the Olympic rowing champions of 2016 and beyond.

You can relive some of the weekend's fabulous racing at Lake Karapiro when the highlights are shown on Sky Sports 1 at 8.30pm on Wednesday. Garrick Cameron also has his championship photographs up on line.

The list of trialists for the 2010 New Zealand squad has been announced.

Mahe Drysdale took a field of world champions apart today as he strode majestically away to win his sixth national sculling title at the 2010 BankLink New Zealand Rowing Championships at Lake Karapiro. Wairau - pictured above - were winners of the Boss Rooster.

The Uru brothers - Storm and Jade - enjoyed a fabulous day on the water at the BankLink New Zealand Rowing Championships today with three titles going their way.

No fewer than five sculling world champions including 2002 world champion Marcel Hacker, and 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009 champ Mahe Drysdale will line up for the Premier Single Scull final at the BankLink New Zealand Rowing Championships at Lake Karapiro on Saturday.

Muggy conditions, with flat water, were the order of the day as crews fought it out to make the semi finals via the last chance repecharges at the 2010 BankLink New Zealand Rowing Championships at Lake Karapiro today - Marcel Hacker (above) was one of the successful athletes.

Peter Taylor and Mahe Drysdale caused a stir in the heats of the men's Premier Double Sculls with a narrow win over established champions Nathan Cohen and Matthew Trott (above) as the 2010 BankLink New Zealand Rowing Championships got underway on Tuesday.

The crews are massing and getting in some final mileage, the Germans have arrived and everything is taking shape for the most important BankLink New Zealand Rowing Championships for some time as the final dry run before the World Championships later this year.

There is a great boost for teams travelling backwards and forward from North Island and South Island this – World Rowing Championship - year thanks to a new rowing trailer rate introduced just for the year by ferry company Bluebridge.

Rowing celebrated one of its biggest nights at the 2010 Westpac Halberg Awards with no fewer than four major awards with success for Mahe Drysdale, the men's pair of Hamish Bond and Eric Murray, coach Dick Tonks and the Evers Swindell twins.

The Canterbury Rowing Club has lost a trestle/dump at the South Island Rowing Championships in Twizel. The trestle is one of the large ones made by Wintech and unmistakeably CRC's. It has white material with the letters CRC printed in red. The club is hoping somebody arrived back at their club to find the trestle on their trailer.

New Zealand rowing has been recognised in the annual FISA awards with legends of the past and present scooping two of the sport’s top global honours. Don Rowlands (above) and four times World Champion Mahe Drysdale both took out major accolades.

New Zealand’s World Champion Men’s Pair – Hamish Bond and Eric Murray – have launched a unique Fan Club where they will be aiming to put their supporters on board their boat at some of the biggest rowing races of 2010.

With Christmas approaching rapidly, there's still time to get hold of one of New Zealand sport's best calendars.

An outstanding year for rower Eric Murray has seen him named Sportsperson of the Year at the 2009 Waipa Networks District Sports Awards.Sport Waikato Waipa district coordinator Janis Jeffers said the award highlighted the success Eric achieved this year both here and overseas. “Again this year our judges had a tough job, but you can’t overlook all that Eric has achieved,” said Janis.

Rowing world champion Duncan Grant continued a successful 2009 when he was named as Marlborough Express Blenheim Round Table Sportsperson of the Year at the annual awards dinner this week.

Mahé Drysdale and Emma Twigg were the winners of 18th annual long distance Silverskiff regatta - the long distance race held in Italy on the Po river in autumn that attracts hundreds of rowers from all over the world.

In a race which gave rowing a glimpse of a bygone era - much as the Billy Webb Challenge did in Wanganui last year - the two best scullers in the world went head to head this week in the Wingfield Sculls on the Thames - with Alan Campbell winning comfortably over the World Champion Mahé Drysdale.

The BKW Armadacup over the weekend once again provided rowing with one of its biggest spectacles and once again New Zealand's world champion sculler Mahé Drysdale prevailed in a record time in the specialist, extreme, event. Emma Twigg, meanwhile, completely dominated the women's race and also broke the record.

The countdown to the 2010 Rowing World Championships begins today (October 30th) and the first batch of Grandstand seats for the general public have been made available via Ticketek.The tickets went on sale as Cambridge - home to most of the ultra successful New Zealand elite rowing team - came out in force to cheer on their champions and help get the countdown to the first race on October 30th 2010 underway.

World champion pairs rower Hamish Bond is all set to swap his oars for pedals to take on cycling's Tour of Southland. In an attempt to take some time out of rowing whilst keeping his supreme fitness levels, Bond is spending hours each day in training for cycling's Tour of Southland after he joined the strong Zookeepers team.

Cambridge will come out in force to celebrate its unique relationship with its rowers next week (Friday October 30th) when the ultra-successful 2009 rowing team takes part in a parade to celebrate the start of the one year countdown to the 2010 World Rowing Championships at Lake Karapiro.

Although there was disappointment for the Kiwi contingent in the single sculls on Saturday at the Head of the Charles in Boston - there was good news on Sunday for Mahe Drysdale who was once again in the winning, and compelling, combination containing the world's best scullers.

American Michael Sivigny and South African Ursula James prevented a Kiwi double over the weekend in the featured men’s and women’s championship singles at the 45th annual Head of the Charles Regatta.

Sports Minister Murray McCully was the latest high profile visitor to the Rowing New Zealand High Performance Centre at the Mighty River Domain at Lake Karapiro this week.

Following on from the success of last December’s inaugural Billy Webb Centennial Challenge, organisers of this year’s race have announced the participants for this year’s event. Wanganui District Councilor Philippa Baker-Hogan says that current and four-time world champion Mahe Drysdale has agreed to return to the mighty Whanganui River. She says Mahe’s opponent will come in the form of Belgian sculler Tim Maeyens, currently ranked 4th following the recent world championships.

World champion Mahe Drysdale (above) sets off for his annual tour of the major international races this week, and once again will be accompanied by fellow world class scullers Emma Twigg and Nathan Cohen.

A strong Australian eight featuring Drew Ginn and members of the country's successful men's straight four and men's quadruple scull proved just a fraction too fast for New Zealand's finest over the weekend - with the crews finishing just centimetres apart after a thrilling race on the Gold Coast at the Paradise Regatta.

Winter weather was the theme of rowing on both the North Island and the South Island over the weekend - with snow a fetaure of the R2k and South Island Inter-Provincial regattas at Lake Ruataniwha and rain the major feature of the North Island Inter-Provincial Regatta at Lake Karapiro.

Names for the national Regional Performance Centre squads have now been released.

Rowing New Zealand’s Principal Partner, BankLink, has secured a major award as it continues to grow and successfully spread its wings into other global markets.

Waikato University's men triumphed in the Gallagher Great Race today in a stunning performance against favourites Oxford University - but there was disappointment for the Waikato women as they were rowed down by Sydney University in the dying moments of their race after leading all the way.

Whilst the weather couldn't make it's mind up today, there was no doubting the determination of the hundreds of rowing masters out on the lake at Karapiro for the second BankLink New Zealand Masters.

Ninety five extra crews, with a greater contingent from Australia and an entry from as far away as Belgium mean the stage is set for a superb second BankLink New Zealand Masters Rowing Championship.

Oxford University and the University of Waikato have been training hard in the build up to their big clash in Sunday’s Gallagher Great Race with the UK Boat Race winners spending most of their time training on Lake Karapiro with two kiwis in the boat – Olympic bronze medalist George Bridgewater in the seven seat and former world champion men’s eight coxswain Andy Hay – now sports editor at TVNZ – ‘guesting’ in the cox seat for the race.

Rowing New Zealand and Principal Partner BankLink have announced an extension to their current agreement guaranteeing sponsorship until the end of the Olympic Games in London 2012. The partnership which began in 2006 includes sponsorship of Rowing New Zealand and the New Zealand National Rowing Championships.

After a successful international season at Elite and Under-23 level, the new Summer Squad has been announced by Rowing New Zealand. Training for the group will re-commence on September 28th.

Rowing New Zealand is seeking a RPC Assistant Coach to be based on the North Shore working for the Auckland Regional Performance Centre. Working within Rowing NZ High Performance programme and reporting to the Head Coach.