Rotorua's Julia Edward (left) will be rowing for Olympic gold with teammate and Sophie MacKenzie in the Women's Lightweight Double Scull at Rio next month.
Rotorua's Julia Edward (left) will be rowing for Olympic gold with teammate and Sophie MacKenzie in the Women's Lightweight Double Scull at Rio next month.
The Rotorua Daily Post continues its series profiling local athletes as they prepare for the Olympic Games next month.
A young Julia Edward's first rowing experience was slotting in the bow as a coxswain, because of her petite size, with the far off dream of one day competing at the Olympics.
But 12 years on and after flourishing as a rower, Edward will compete in her second consecutive games in the lightweight double sculls - this time chasing gold at Rio with rowing partner Sophie MacKenzie.
The 25-year-old former Rotorua Girls' High student said she had worked hard for her Olympic selection after facing a challenge to seal her spot.
With no lightweight single class at the Olympics three world champions were contesting the two seats.
Zoe McBride, who won the lightweight scull world championships last year, missed out.
"The challenge was expected but it has made us better in the long run," Edward said.
"I just focused on my own personal development and getting stronger individually. By doing that I knew that ultimately it was going to help the double - whoever was going to make up the pair."
Edward, who started rowing as a 13-year-old, and MacKenzie are double world champions having won gold at the 2014 and 2015 World Rowing Championships.
"Winning these titles has naturally matured Sophie and I. We trust our training programme and know what it takes to win in such a tight field," Edward explained.
Julia Edward.
In their build up to Rio the pair have been training and racing in Switzerland and Poland since May and have contested two World Cup regattas - winning bronze in both Lucerne and Poznan with Canada, South Africa, The Netherlands and Denmark emerging as tough competition for the gold.
"I'm very happy with our preparations for Rio. Our third place finishes were where we wanted to be at that stage in the season," she said.
In her Olympic debut Edward finished ninth in London 2012 with crew mate Louise Ayling.
"It was an amazing experience in London but I was a young rower - I was 21. The venue, the pace, the media and the crowd was bigger than I'd ever experienced," she said.
"You could hear the roar of the crowd from 500m to go! I thought we handled the pressure well, we just lacked time in the boat together as a new combination."
It will be MacKenzie's first Olympic experience at Rio, however Edward said she would be offering advice and didn't want any distractions this time around.
"Going to Rio I feel a lot more aware of what to expect - I've been trying to involve Sophie in that and give her a few tips," she said.
"It's important for us to remain in our bubble and not get caught up in the hype of the event. Over the week of racing we will be shutting ourselves off from the social media world so we can focus on the job at hand.
"We have learnt how important it is to break down the season into segments and treat each race as a stepping stone. We don't focus on the final until we have made the final.
"Since London we have also worked closely with our physiologist and I have learnt the importance of prioritising training sessions to hit our peak speeds."
Julia Edward (right) and team mate Sophie MacKenzie will be rowing for gold at the Rio Olympics.
Edward said a poignant Olympic memory was watching the Evers-Swindell sisters win gold medals at the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games.
"As a young rower I looked up to the Evers-Swindell twins because like myself they were racing in the double sculls and they are such strong female athletes," she said.
"They inspired me to continue rowing and make a career out of it. And I hope like them I can be an inspiration to young girls out there."
The rower will have plenty of support cheering her on with partner Armin, parents Harry and Sue and brothers Chris and Jeremy all travelling to Rio.
