Five athletes who started their careers on the Whanganui River are off to the Tokyo Olympics. Photo / Lewis Gardner
New Zealand's water sports teams at the Tokyo Olympics will include five athletes from Whanganui.
Read more (Premium): Tokyo Olympics: Five Whanganui athletes to represent New Zealand on water
MAX BROWN
EVENT: K2 1000
Tokyo 2020 will be Max's first Olympic Games.
Hailing from Whanganui, he produced his most impressive international season to date, as Max alongside Kurtis Imrie finished eighth in the A Final of the K2 1000m at the World Cup in Poznan.
In 2020, Max and Kurtis qualified a K2 1000m boat for New Zealand at the Tokyo Olympics via the Oceania Championships.
Max is currently studying a Masters of Business Management degree at Waikato University. He is an accomplished musician and between training sessions teaches music to school students in Cambridge.
KERRI GOWLER
EVENT: Women's Pair and Women's Eight
Kerri was a part of the first-ever New Zealand women's eight to compete at an Olympic Games in Rio 2016. Tokyo will be her second Games, where she will compete in the women's pairs and will be going into the event as one to watch. Kerri has been a history-maker since 2014 when she broke both the under-23 pairs and the elite women's four records in the same season. Kerri and Grace Prendergast teamed up in the pair in 2019 and won gold. As if that weren't enough, the two women were also in the first New Zealand women's eight to win at the World Championships. Both crews are coached by Gary Hay. Kerri is the proud owner of a sausage dog called Cooper and is from Raetihi. She is currently working towards a Bachelor of Science, majoring in psychology.
JACKIE GOWLER
EVENT: Women's Eight
Jackie will make her Olympic debut in Tokyo 2020 in the women's sweep squad.
The younger sister of NZ rower Kerri, Jackie was in the stroke seat of the history-making New Zealand women's eight. A world champion title in her 3rd year as an elite is an impressive feat, showing there may be more to come for this talented young athlete. Jackie is originally from Raetihi and is being coached by Gary Hay. Beyond the sport, Jackie can be found out and about with her friends or back home on the farm. She is studying towards a bachelor's degree in health, sport and human performance at the University of Waikato.
CHRIS HARRIS
EVENT: Men's Double Sculls
Chris will be attending his third Olympic Games after competing at London 2012 in the men's four and Rio 2016 in the men's double sculls. Chris stayed in the double sculls after Rio, winning the World Championships title in 2017, and earned a bronze in 2018. In Tokyo, Chris will be partnered with Jack Lopas in the men's double who are coached by Calvin Fergusson. Originally from Whanganui, Chris relocated to Cambridge in 2010 when he made his elite debut. He is coached by Calvin Fergusson.
Chris is a qualified engineer, and he and his partner welcomed a baby boy to the world in early 2019.
GEORGIA NUGENT-O'LEARY
EVENT: Women's Quadruple Sculls
Tokyo 2020 will be Georgia's first Olympic campaign competing in the women's quad, coached by Mike Rodger. Included in the New Zealand summer squad for the 2016/17 domestic season, a bike crash caused Georgia to have a lengthy period on the bank, but she has returned in time for the Tokyo Games. Originally from Marton, Georgia moved to Cambridge in 2019 to pursue her rowing career. Georgia is studying towards a Bachelor of Science majoring in food science.
Whanganui athletes performed well at the NZ Secondary Schools Track and Field Champs.