Waterskier may be charged over collision with Olympic rower

Police will today decide whether to lay charges against a teenage waterskier who ran over Olympic rower Mahe Drysdale on Lake Karapiro on Saturday.

Mr Drysdale was training mid-morning when a waterskier -- understood to be 14-years-old -- hit him near Becks Landing.

The Westpac Waikato Air Ambulance airlifted Mr Drysdale to hospital with bruised kidneys and lower back injuries. The water skier sustained cuts and bruises.

Mr Drysdale was training with several other top Kiwi rowers on Lake Karapiro when he saw the speedboat nearby -- then turned to see a waterskier 10m away heading straight towards him.

"I could do nothing and wasn't sure of where to go," Mr Drysdale said today.

"So I turned my head away and preceded to take the next stroke when he ploughed straight into me."

As the teenage skier swept up behind the boat, he spread his legs and straddled it -- snapping off one of the bars holding the oars.

"His ski came up and hit me square in the middle of the spine. Oars, skis, bodies and boat went flying and we ended with my (boat) upside down and both of us in the water," Mr Drysdale said.

Acting Sergeant Martin Jenkins said a decision on whether the waterskier would be charged would be made by this afternoon.

"It just highlights the need for people to be cautious when they are waterskiing, or when they are using the lake," Mr Jenkins said.

Mr Jenkins said the accident happened after fog had cleared.

Among the witnesses were Olympic champions Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell, who described the crash as "very horrific".

Auckland rower Nathan Twaddle said the waterskier hit at about 35km/h -- and Mr Drysdale took the full force. "There were waterskis and bodies everywhere".

Despite the intense pain, Mr Drysdale was able to move his hands and feet enough to keep afloat for a few seconds as coach Dick Tonks and physiologist Brett Smith closed in with their support boat.

Mr Smith feared for Mr Drysdale's safety as he saw the sculler vanish under the lake for several seconds.

Mr Drysdale was barely lucid when the pair reached him and Mr Smith was "terrified" of worsening any back injury by moving him too much.

Instead, they kept Mr Drysdale in the water to support his neck in case he had a severe spinal injury. Slowly, they eased him towards a landing several hundred metres away.

Mr Drysdale said after a few minutes the cold water started to affect him.

"I was soon shivering, making the pain in my back more intense."

Mr Drysdale was unable to move his torso when firefighters and an ambulance turned up, so a rescue helicopter was called.

Waipa District Council chief executive John Inglis said there were controls on where different activities could take place on the lake.

Mr Inglis was unaware of any previous incidents but the lake was getting more crowded all the time.

"It has always been an issue but well enough managed in the past. We have had a lot of activity with no mishaps, but accidents do happen. If somebody was in the wrong, then it may have been unavoidable."

- NZPA, BAY OF PLENTY TIMES