GOLDEN GIRLS: Kerri Gowler and Grace Prendergast, seen here in May, claimed the Under-23women's pairs title in Varese yesterday.
GOLDEN GIRLS: Kerri Gowler and Grace Prendergast, seen here in May, claimed the Under-23women's pairs title in Varese yesterday.
Wanganui rowing has another world championship gold medal after Aramoho club member Kerri Gowler and partner Grace Prendergast dominated the women's pair (BW2-) final at the World Rowing Under-23 Championships in Italy yesterday.
In their victory described on the regatta's website page as a "Murray and Bond-like" performance, Gowler, 20,and Prendergast, 22, gained an early open water lead at Varese, pulling away from the 2013 champion Romanian crew.
In complete control, the pair could not be touched as their time of 7m 2.89s was a new under- 23 record and nearly 13 seconds clear of the American and Australian crews who fought out second and third.
"We were trying to put down a good time. It never feels like you are really far in the front when you are racing," said Gowler.
The win was expected, although perhaps not the margin, given the pair had won silver a fortnight ago during the third and final senior World Cup regatta in Lucerne, which included beating New Zealand's own elite pair, Wanganui's Rebecca Scown and partner Louise Trappitt, who took bronze.
It put Rowing NZ in a tough position as despite the U23 team outperforming the elite pair, which they had also been doing in the training build-up according to prognostic times, it was decided before Lucerne that Scown and Trappitt would be in the boat to compete at the senior World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam on August 24.
Gowler's sister Jackie and fellow Wanganui partner Georgia Nugent-O'Leary departed yesterday for the Junior World regatta.
