Rowing: Rower's success overseas raises the bar for locals

NEW MARKS: There have been some changes to the prognostic times for 2-person crews in the Wanganui Winter Series thanks to new world champion Kerri Gowler. PHOTO/FILE

The stunning international success of local girl Kerri Gowler has had a trickle down effect for the 8km August race of the 2014 Wanganui Winter Series tomorrow morning.

The series consists of crews and crafts of various sizes and winners are decided based on which rowers reach the best percentage of the "prognostic time" for their division.

Gowler, an Aramoho Wanganui Rowing Club member, teamed up with Grace Prendergast to win gold and set a new record in BW2 during the World Rowing Under-23 Championships in Italy two weeks ago.

That means the mark has shifted for BW2 crews competing locally and Gowler's clubmate Jacs Rush said she is more than happy to make that adjustment for the grade in recognition of the 20-year-old's success.

Gowler and Prendergast were elevated to the elite-level NZ Coxless four to compete at the senior world championships in Amsterdam on August 24-31, joining Wanganui's Chris Harris (men's quad), Rebecca Scown (women's pair) and Sarah Gray (women's quad).

AWRC members were busy last weekend as wet weather saw their boat shed flooded, but Rush said it had since been cleaned up and the club can still serve as the finishing line for this month's race.

Union BC, Scown's club, are the hosts for the August event.

Racing will start across from the National Library building on the Whanganui River and finish at the AWRC 2km line.

No further adjustments needed to be made to the prognostic times as the 8km course was a straight race with no turns, Rush said.

Organisers have been grappling with prognostic times in recent events to find the most accurate judging standards for races.

Rush said she had done some research to find out the official waka times from national championships going back for the last 15-20 years to use as a reference tool.

Organisers will also be hoping for a bigger turnout than the 15 boats which contested the July race.

Action starts at 9am.