KEY POINTS:
With the boat she was on sinking and the water up to her knees and rising fast, all Sarah Ivey could think about was keeping her expensive camera gear dry.
The 24-year-old Herald photographer was on a media boat that sank at a farewell for New Zealand's Olympic rowers at a choppy Lake Karapiro yesterday afternoon.
The group were all wearing life jackets and were rescued by rowing officials after a freezing five minutes in the water.
Dressed in a Rowing New Zealand tracksuit, a cold Ivey said her clue the boat was sinking came when her lens began pointing down at the lake.
"Then there was just water gushing in over the front like something out of Titanic and all of a sudden I was up to my knees in it.
"People were screaming and freaking out but I wasn't worried I was going to get wet - I was just thinking, 'Oh my god, I'm going to lose all my gear'. Everyone was screaming and swearing ... but mostly everyone was shouting, 'Oh hell, I've lost my lens' or 'Oh hell, I've got to get my camera out of the water'."
Ivey's camera gear, worth about $50,000, was ruined. TV cameras worth tens of thousands also went under.
"It would have been the world press photo of the year, all the photographers trying to keep their gear up in the air - but no one could take the picture," she said.
Rowing New Zealand spokesman Richard Gee said that while people could laugh about the incident, it could have been disastrous.
"This is a serious incident - it's mid-winter and that lake is bloody freezing," he said.
"Thankfully they were all wearing life jackets and were sensible in the water and we got to them quickly."
Mr Gee said the 4m designated safety boat could normally hold up to 12 people. He said Rowing New Zealand is investigating and divers will look for the camera gear.
* TV3's video coverage of the incident
