KEY POINTS:
Making sure that on-the-water momentum is maintained is the key for Rowing New Zealand as they look ahead to the London Olympics in 2012, says acting chief executive Luke van Velthooven.
Van Velthooven is filling an interim role which has been vacant since the departure of Craig Ross last year. The manager of RNZ's regional high-performance centre in Marlborough, van Velthooven says the sport has to ensure rowing's success over the past few years at elite, under-23 and junior levels does not drop as RNZ enters another four-year cycle culminating in London.
This year, three medals were won at the junior worlds in Linz in July; Graham Oberlin-Brown and Joseph Sullivan won lightweight and senior single scull golds at the under-23 championships in Brandenburg, Germany around the same time; Duncan Grant retained his non-Olympic world senior lightweight single crown; and three medals were won at the Beijing Olympics.
But since Beijing there have been ripples. Coxless-pair rower Nicky Coles has retired; Rob Waddell has returned to yachting duties at Team New Zealand; George Bridgewater, who appealed as the long-term anchor man of the squad, is off to Oxford University. Throw in the departure of high-performance boss Andrew Matheson, after six years in the job, off to run Australia's high-performance programme, and these are important months for rowing.
Van Velthooven believes retaining the country's best athletes is a key factor leading up to the London Games, along with ensuring the base of up-and-comers is secure.
"We need to figure out a way we can reward our athletes so we can retain them without too much hardship, putting structures in place that see the organisation continue with the success it's had in the last few years," he said yesterday. "We're riding on the backs of some fantastic athletes and need to make sure we're building the base up again for the next generation coming in."
Van Velthooven was a leading contender to replace Ross long term, RNZ chairman Bill Falconer saying he was "one of the preferred candidates" to fill the vacancy. However RNZ is readvertising again in about three months, saying it has not found someone who fulfilled all the requirements, which include being based at the headquarters at Lake Karapiro.
Van Velthooven, charged with setting out RNZ's strategic plan through to London, confirmed he was in that category, as he runs a consultancy business involved with project and resource management in Marlborough.
But he stressed that while hosting the world champs in 2010 at Karapiro was a huge opportunity for the sport, the Olympics remained the pinnacle, both in the eyes of the athletes and the public.
"2010 is a fantastic opportunity for us. You don't get anything better to promote and brand your sport and get recognition for athletes in your home country than a world championship.
"But we need to be very careful that we continue to target London.
"Every four years you get your chance and it's hard to be judged on one event over six minutes every four years when you can do so well in between."
The national summer training squad, to begin training on November 3, is notable for several absentees. Longtime coxless-four member Carl Murray, double Olympic gold medal-winners Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell, former world champion coxless pair rower Juliette Haigh are taking a break until early next year.
