Double Olympic rowing medallist Kim Crow is praying the wind drops this weekend when she contests her first ever Bill Webb Challenge on the Whanganui River.
The Australian sculler arrived in Wanganui on Tuesday night and yesterday morning battled an ever increasing wave of white caps whipped up by the strong northerly winds during her first training session on a tidal track.
Crow won silver in the double sculls at the London Olympics beating home bronze medallists Rebecca Scown from Wanganui and Juliet Haigh. She then finished third to claim bronze in the single sculls in London.
While she comes into the Billy Webb fresh after a couple of months off following the London Olympics and a relative novice on tidal river tracks, Crow is the favourite to take out the women's race this weekend.
Experienced rowing coach Ian Weenick guided Crow through her first training session from the Aramaoho Wanganui Rowing Club pontoon yesterday and was confident she would have too much class as a single sculler for her Billy Webb rivals.