New Zealand's rowers are on the world stage again this week – as they compete at the World Champs in France, and try to qualify their boats for next year's Rio Olympics.
As with most sporting contests - there will be elation and disappointment. Maybe one of the biggest disappointments will be Fiona Bourke failing to directly qualify the women's single scull. This result will be tough to take – not only for Fiona – but for Kiwi World Champion Emma Twigg.
Emma won her first World Title in Amsterdam last year. She then chose to take up an opportunity to study for ten months in Europe for a FIFA Masters in Management, Law and Humanities of Sport.
The timing wasn't great as this year is Olympic qualification year. But Emma wanted to do something for herself, to set her up for her future, and to break the monotony of another season at Karapiro. It was something she felt she needed to do – to be at her best in her attempt to win gold in Rio.
But Rowing NZ has a very strict set of rules. A rower must take part in the summer squad, race at Nationals in February and take part in trials in March – to be eligible to be selected for the NZ team. Clearly Emma wasn't going to meet this criteria.
It didn't matter that she continued her training while studying, (and by all accounts was looking good), or that she graduated in July and would have been available for the World Champs. Rowing NZ wouldn't budge. Not even for a World Champion, who - even with ten months out of the NZ programme – would likely have had no problem qualifying the boat for Rio.
So, instead, Fiona Bourke, a World Champion in the double in 2014, was selected in the single. She wasn't happy and she made that very clear. She felt her opportunity to race in Rio was now in jeopardy because she was being asked to qualify the boat - for Emma to race next year when she returned. And then she'd be left trying to get back into the double – which she believed could be difficult after a year out.
Fiona struggled in the single for most of the year – and that struggle continued at World Champs when she failed to advance to the semi-final – and with that failed to qualify for Rio.
Emma is - of course – disappointed. She'll return to NZ Rowing in September and will follow the rules for selection for 2016. It's hard to imagine she won't get her single seat back.But now her build up to Rio will have to include the last chance Olympic qualification regatta – dubbed the "regatta of death" – in Lucerne next year.
She should cruise through, but it's not the ideal scenario. Even so, Emma told me the ending to a good story always comes from overcoming a few added challenges. What a great attitude.
It's just a pity Rowing New Zealand couldn't have had a more flexible attitude towards Emma. If they had, it's highly likely the single scull would now be on its way to Rio.
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