Olympic champion backs Wanganui rowers

Wanganui rowing may have found itself a champion in its efforts to keep young people in the sport.
Wybo Veldman, one of the celebrated men's eight that took the Olympic title in the epic battle at Munich in 1972, was a guest at the Wanganui Rowing Association's get-together on Sunday as it prepared for the inter-provincial championships.
He could prove a knight in golden armour, having offered to act as mentor to young rowers and help clubs keep school-leavers.
The event was held at the Aramoho Wanganui club which, like others around the country, attracts enthusiastic school kids and has a solid bunch of masters rowers. It is the gap in between that causes concern.
A good turnout on Sunday suggested Wanganui would be okay for the inter-provincials on the Mercer River in October, but Aramoho Wanganui had just one competitor and Union Boat Club just four at the New Zealand club championships this year.
Veldman, a fit and gregarious 64-year-old, has plenty of sympathy for the struggling clubs.
He points to the "huge change" when Rowing New Zealand brought in regional development squads.
"The majority of rowers were not in favour, though they might admit now that it has made New Zealand very strong at international level.
"But the regional squads picked the eyes out of the top clubs, and that left the clubs decimated. My generation left school and stayed in our hometown and rowed for our home club - now, many youngsters head off to the major centres for work or education and the smaller clubs are struggling."
Veldman, who lives in Taupo but whose business interests frequently bring him to Wanganui, recalls doing his winter training with his club in Whakatane. Today's elite rowers are based at Rowing NZ's high-performance centre at Cambridge and do their training under the watchful eye of national coaches.
The gold medallist, who won 21 NZ titles before his competitive rowing career ended in 1976, acknowledges that the changes have produced results at the elite level, but he notes that while the secondary schools' Maadi Cup can attract 10,000 spectators, only a handful bother to watch the national club championships.
One of the organisers of Sunday's meeting, Fiona Symes, a former Aramoho Wanganui rower and coach at Wanganui Collegiate, said clubs were working hard to keep young rowers in the sport.
"They leave school, and some leave town while others just drop out of rowing," she said.
"We are hoping that input from someone like Wybo will help us keep them in the sport, along with our current New Zealand reps Ben Hammond, Chris Harris and Simon Watson, who are also very supportive to young Wanganui rowers."
Veldman certainly makes an inspirational role model. He made his mark when Kiwi competitors were amateurs up against professionals from the top rowing nations.
"I was trying to finish my apprenticeship in motor mechanics when I was preparing for the 1972 Olympics.
"All the New Zealand eight were finishing degrees or doing part-time work, trying to earn enough to get by while teams such as East Germany and Russia were full-time and state-funded."
That famous gold-medal crew, of course, included a Wanganui rower, Trevor Coker, who died in 1981 at the age of 31.
Although Veldman fell out with the selectors in 1976 when they wanted him in the eights for the Montreal Olympics and he wanted to contest the single sculls, having just won the national title, his enthusiasm for the sport is undimmed.
He had a significant role in the 2010 World Championships at Lake Karapiro, organising training venues, transport, boats and accommodation for several competing countries and having to look after 19 container-loads of equipment that were shipped in.
Now he could have a role in Wanganui.
"I'm in and out of the city all the time," said Veldman, who farmed at Ohakune for many years and still has land there.
"And I'd be happy to help the clubs and mentor young rowers."