A young Wanganui rower who became a world championship gold medallist in 2006, died suddenly on Tuesday. He was only 20. NZ Rowing's domestic manager Kevin Strickland was close to tears as he described Tyler Sherman as "one of the nice guys, a huge young guy" who could have gone onto become one of New Zealand rowing's biggest stars. "We are all devastated. What a loss. My heart goes out to his parents." Tyler, a former Wanganui High School student, was the son of Craig and Carol Sherman, who once ran the Sports Lodge Motel in Springvale. He began rowing in his early teen years at Aramoho under the guidance of Ian Weenink, who now runs an academy in the city. Weenink was quick to spot his enormous potential. "He was a lovely, strapping guy ... He was part of a closely-knit bunch at Aramoho," said Weenink. Sherman's size won him a berth in the gold-winning eight at the junior worlds in Amsterdam in 2006. The next year he was part of the eight that took silver in Beijing. In 2008 he went to the under-23 world champs but the eight missed the A final. Sherman has spent the past few years living in Hamilton. He gave up rowing to play rugby, making the Waikato Rugby Academy. A Waikato Rugby Union spokesperson yesterday described him as "a great kid", who in time could have developed into a representative rugby player. As a mark of respect, the Aramoho Rowing Club flew its flag at half-mast yesterday. Funeral details were still to be released at edition time.
