Rower Beckie Leigh provides an update on her training and competition:
I just wanted to say a big thank you for the funding that you granted to me for the New Zealand Junior Rowing campaign and our trip to the Junior World Rowing Champs in Racice, Czech Republic.
We had an 8-week training camp prior to our departure, where we trained at Lake Karapiro and went to school at St Peter's School from 10am until 2pm. We lived for a majority of the time at the Podium Lodge, across the road from St Peter's School, which provided a 'home' for the 20 athletes in the team.
We left New Zealand on the 29th July, flying to Dubai (17 hours) and then on to Prague (6 hours). We had just over 1 week in Prague before racing started, of which we used this time training, familiarising ourselves with the lake, and adjusting to both the temperature and time change. When racing began, we started with the heat, in which we finished 3rd. This meant we just missed out on going straight to the semi-final (top 2 went straight through). The next day we raced in the repecharge where we finished 2nd, seconds behind the Great Britain crew.
The following day (Saturday) we raced in the A/B semi-final with the lake showing some rough conditions, in which we ended sixth in that race. Although we were all a bit disappointed that we didn't make the A final, it was very exciting to watch many of our other crews do just that. Along with this, 9 new World Best Times were set, which showed just how fast the conditions were.
On the Sunday, we raced in the morning along with all the other B finals. We ended up 3rd in our final, putting us at 9th overall which we were very happy with.
In the NZ Team, we brought home 3 medals (bronze in the JW2X and JW4-, while the JM4- took home a silver). With these results, we celebrated with a dinner in Prague along with our parents and other supporters.
This campaign was such a great opportunity and an amazing experience. So once again I would like to say a big thank you.
Regards,
Beckie Leigh
JW4X - rowing
