Paddling to international rowing debut

An untested rowing combination, a full plate of university study and countless hours of training. Welcome to Courtney Rennie's road to an international rowing debut.

In just her fourth competitive season, the Tauranga Rowing club athlete is preparing to tackle next month's Trans-Tasman regattas – a tentative step into what she hopes is a lengthy rowing career.


Tauranga Rowing Club's Courtney Rennie will make her New Zealand Rowing debut in next month's Trans-Tasman regatta. Photo by Tracy Hardy.

The 18-year-old, a former Bethlehem College student, will pair up with Otago's Anna Watson-Taylor in the women's lightweight double sculls for the two regattas, along with joining the women's quad and eight.

There is some apprehension, says Courtney, as the pair are yet to test their double sculls skills together.

'She's based in Otago so we haven't got a chance to row together. So this camp [running from today until the end of June] will be the first time.

'It does take a bit of an adjustment [trying out a new combination]. Sometimes you will just click sometimes not. But because we are similar size it should create a bit more harmony in the boat.”

Courtney is joined by fellow Tauranga rower Charlie Rogerson, who is racing in the Men's Coxless Pair, alongside Tom Clyma, Hugo Elworthy, and Martyn O'Leary.

Both BOP rowers enjoyed medal success at the National Champs in Twizel this February, with Courtney receiving silver in the senior women's eight and bronze in the senior women's coxless quad, while Charlie won gold in the under-20 coxless pair.

The pair represent a continuing line of successful rowers coming out of the Tauranga club, including Zoe Stevenson, world double scull champ, and Curtis Rapley, who won gold in the men's open lightweight four at the World Rowing Championships in Lucerne, Switzerland, last July.

The former provided the most inspiration for Courtneyand her goal of rowing for New Zealand at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, despite rowing out of separate bases on Lake Karapiro daily.

'We train out of the Waikato shed while they are at the High Performance Centre. But we usually row past them in the morning, which is pretty inspiring seeing them out as well.”

The intensity required for international competition took a little adjusting, with Courtney spending up to two hours on the water, five mornings a week, and a 90-minute afternoon session on either the rower or spin bikes.

This is all while juggling her first semester studying towards a psychology and management degree at the University of Waikato, which she admits might need to be drawn out if the rowing career takes centre stage.

'It's going to be really cool representing New Zealand. I'm really proud and excited.”

The first of the Trans-Tasman regattas will see New Zealand crews compete in Sydney, Australia from July 2-4, and then New Zealand is hosting the second at Lake Karapiro from August 27-29.

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