Coaching grind pays off for Rowing NZ

NZ men's rowing eight (Photosport file)
NZ men's rowing eight (Photosport file)

When New Zealand rowers hit the water at this year's World Cups and the Rio Olympics it will be the culmination of years of hard work.

And their success will ultimately be their coaches' success as well.

Day after day, hour after hour, the oars of New Zealand's elite rowers slice through the waters of Lake Karapiro.

Watching and scrutinising every stroke are the coaches, but their work is just beginning.

"The on water part is a very small part of what we actually do," says Rowing NZ coach Noel Donaldson. "The majority of it is about programming and thinking holistically about what your athletes needs are."

Dealing with all the different personalities can also be a challenge.

Particularly for someone like Dave Thompson who coaches the women's 8 and the women's pair.

"Every day with eleven girls they come from different backgrounds, they come from different homes, they've got stuff going on," notes Thompson.

"There are appointments they need to meet. They have study and life outside of rowing which you need to manage."

New Zealand's rowers won five medals in London, three of them gold.  They hope to improve on that in Rio.

And while the success is rewarding for the coaches, they're quick to deflect it onto the athletes.

"They do make us look good," admits coach Gary Hay.

"We've got such a high calibre of person, becuase they're good people off the water and they don't get into trouble. They don't make the headlines and so they're outstanding people.

"That makes our job a lot easier."

Behind every great athlete is a great coach.

That has proved to be especially true at Lake Karapiro.

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