Rowing: Ready to embrace spotlight once more

Nicky Coles, left, and Juliette Haigh placed fifth at the Beijing Olympics. Photo / Getty Images

This time last year, Juliette Haigh was still contemplating her rowing future as she revelled with friends, rugged up with all but a Russian fur hat in freezing Moscow.

That was part of her OE, a sabbatical year taken after the strain of an Olympic cycle where she had, to paraphrase Rudyard Kipling, forced heart and nerve and sinew to serve their turn long after they were gone.

That's what such a campaign does. Haigh ended up fifth at the Beijing Games with her now retired women's pair partner Nicky Coles. That was a creditable performance but after you've shared world championship glory back in 2005, you know what the highs can be.

A year on from emptying her backpack in search of warmth in the Russian capital, the now 27-year-old Haigh is back in the skiff, preparing for this year's home world championships with the Rowing New Zealand squad.

In truth, she trained throughout her time away, starting at a casual level for fitness but working back to a point which allowed her to contest regattas in Portugal, Germany, Belgium and England.

She spent the time away practising her sculling with a view to doing that in future, rather than the single sweep oar rowing she'd specialised in previously.

"My sculling still needs some work. It depends on what sort of shape I can get into for nationals and trials," says Haigh.

"I'm keeping it open and I'm not targeting any event directly. I've also got to get my fitness back to where it was and be the best I can be technically in both disciplines.

"I've recently spent a month rowing the pair, mixing it with [2009 world championship bronze medallists] Emma Feathery and Rebecca Scown.

"After that, I changed into the sculling squad and spent almost a month in the single doing long kilometres under the eye of Richard Tonks. I also had a few chats with [high performance manager] Alan Cotter and the selectors."

By putting Haigh in the double sculls boat, she could be teamed with Anna Reymer or Paula Twining, who won their B final this year in Poznan.

Some have even suggested teaming her with single sculler Emma Twigg for a long-term bet.

Importantly, a year away has expanded Haigh's mind without damaging any of her ambition. While rowers travel the world, especially Europe, there's limited time for sightseeing.

Cabin fever encroaches and tunnel vision can absorb most individuals as they concentrate on the task at hand.

"I had a great year experiencing some of the other things in life, between stints at a recruitment company," says Haigh.

"It was a year where I had to decide if I wanted to continue and it became obvious pretty quickly. So I couldn't wait to get stuck into training. I had seen what the New Zealand team had achieved in Poznan [winning four gold medals and one bronze] and that was exciting to watch, so I looked forward to the time when I could get out there again."

Some of those "other things" were marvelling at the architecture of Barcelona and the grandeur of Paris and completing the walk of the majestic Cinque Terre (literally five lands but really five villages) on Italy's Ligurian Coast with a swim and an ice cream between each.

She also had the special experience of being able to stay on the Thames River for a few months at the London Rowing Club, just upstream from Putney Bridge, scene of the start of the annual Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge universities.

In fact, Haigh's residence was quite a hub for sports theatres, with Fulham's Craven Cottage football ground just across the river and Wimbledon only a few kilometres south.

"I had my own room at what was known as The Residence," says Haigh.

"It was just down from Putney embankment, so it made it a short walk before I jumped into my boat in the early morning chill."

One of the highlights of her return has been buying a first property with partner Mahe Drysdale and his dog Oslo.

"We've purchased 16 acres out in the country. It's a 10-minute drive to the lake and a short dash into Cambridge - a good spot to get away from it all."

Haigh is now in camp, training with the Auckland Rowing Performance Centre in Hawke's Bay until today and will be back with the New Zealand squad on Thursday. It now comes down to the selectors' decision in March as to which direction her career will go.

Whether that is in sweeping or sculling, you suspect she will be wearing a silver fern on her suit when the world championships start on October 31.