In my last editor’s letter, I spoke of the phoney war. A sleepy post-Olympic year of sabbaticals and stock taking. Well, if this is meant to be a quieter year, the message has not reached New Zealand. With Murray, Bond, and Drysdale all out of the picture, the New Zealand conveyor belt of talent hasn’t faltered. The Kiwis arrived on the scene in style at World Cup II last month. They took home six gold medals that weekend from Poznan and followed it with a further five at Henley.
In fact, move over ‘Kiwi Pair’, new girls on the block Kerri Gowler and Grace Prendergast are fast making ‘Kiwi Women’s Pair’ the crew we love to see win, which is why they are the subject of our cover story this month. At Henley they were first to inscribe their names on the women’s pairs event and in Poland they set a new world best time, previously held by the undefeated Glover and Stanning of Great Britain.
Records have also been broken in the men’s and women’s single and we have a new fastest ever 2k, the astonishing 5.18.68 by the German men’s eight in Poland.