Rowing dominates Halberg Awards

Rowers Mahe Drysdale and Juliette Haigh at last night's awards. Photo / Dean Purcell

It was rowing's night at the Westpac Halberg Awards in Auckland last night, with the sport scooping four of the seven categories on offer.

Mahe Drysdale and the world champion rowing pair of Eric Murray and Hamish Bond, who were unbeaten in their first year as a pair at elite level, won the sportsman and sports team categories respectively and Richard Tonks won coach of the year.

The night was capped off with former Olympic and world rowing champions Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell being crowned sports champions of the decade.

Olympic and world shotput champion Valerie Vili was awarded New Zealand's ultimate sporting prize, the supreme Halberg Award, for the third consecutive year.

Drysdale and Vili were both unbeaten in international competition in 2009, retained their world championship crowns and were also acclaimed by their international federations with Drysdale voted male rower of the year by world rowing's governing body and Vili one of five finalists for the IAAF female athlete of the year award.

The other finalists in the sportswoman category were also current world champions - Sophie Pascoe (swimming), Alison Shanks (track cycling) and Sarah Walker (BMX cycling).

In the sportsman of the year category, Drysdale headed off Scott Dixon (motor sport), Duncan Grant (rowing), Richie McCaw (rugby) and Daniel Vettori (cricket) while Murray and Bond beat the All Whites soccer team, rowing's lightweight double scull team of Storm Uru and Peter Taylor and the 420 yachting crew of Alexandra Maloney and Bianca Barbarich-Bacher.

Tonks, who coached Drysdale and the men's pair to world championships titles, won the coach of the year category head of Ricki Herbert (soccer), Kirsten Hellier (athletics) and Tim Carswell (cycling).

The emerging talent category, which comes with a $15,000 scholarship, was awarded to Sam Webster, who won an unprecedented hat-trick of titles last year at the under-19 world track cycling championships.

The other finalists were Aaron Cruden (rugby), Sam Meech (sailing) and Robbie Manson (rowing).

Two former national champions were inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame. Athletes Allison Roe, winner of the New York and Boston marathons and Barry Magee, winner of the Olympic marathon bronze medal in 1960, were presented with their awards by Dame Susan Devoy and Sir John Walker.

Two other special awards were made, with Kenny Smith, who has spent more than 50 years in motor sport, presented with the Lion Foundation lifetime achievement award while long-time cricket administrator Sir John Anderson receiving the Space leadership award.

- NZPA