ROWING NEW ZEALAND / ANNUAL REPORT 2021
CHAIRMAN AND CEO REPORT 2021 T GERRY DWYER, Chairman of the Board
GEOFF BARRY, Chief Executive
he 2021 year has been one of mixed emotion, with the unbelievable high of our rowing team competing with great success at the Tokyo Olympic Games, alongside the frustrations of the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on community rowing across Aotearoa New Zealand, especially in Te Ika a Maui (North Island) and Tamaki Makaurau (Auckland). Long-term though, 2021 should be remembered for the resilience of: our athletes who adapted to the postponement of the 2020 Olympics, and demonstrated the type of commitment required to extend their aspirations and resolve to training for a further 12 months and then deliver such an outstanding outcome on the world stage; and the rowing community who remained steadfast in their motivation to take every opportunity to sustain a programme that enabled rowers across Aotearoa to get out on the water within alert levels and COVID-19 protection frameworks. GOVERNANCE The Board has continued to provide strong organisational leadership in challenging times. An important contributing factor to the success of the Board is the balance of experienced and new directors as the sport looks towards 2024, 2028 and 2032. At the 2021 annual general meeting (AGM) Jock Mackintosh, for his third three-year period and new director Mathew Jensen were elected to the Board. In October, long serving appointed director Geoff Taylor resigned and was replaced by Karen Raitt. —1—
HIGH PERFORMANCE Our high-performance vision is Reaching for greatness: creating a legacy through champion performances on and off the water. Our 2021 Olympic team certainly reached for greatness. There will be many accolades rightly shared for those who won medals. We must always remember behind the podium success there are many who contribute to that special moment. Whanau, schools and clubs, volunteers, officials, sponsors and supporters all play a part. The 51 athletes, coaches, and support staff that went into Olympic Village were a very special t ma. On Sea Forest Waterway they delivered, across nine crew entries, on our target of five medals; three gold and two silver, topping the regatta and displacing the United Kingdom who had dominated for the past three Olympics. Our athletes delivered 43 per cent of Aotearoa New Zealand’s gold medals and 25 per cent of all medals in Tokyo. Tokyo was Rowing NZ’s most successful ever Olympic Games. There were many first-time milestones for rowing: the first ever podiums for a women’s eight (silver) and women’s single (gold); our first ever double medalling crew at an Olympic regatta with gold in the women’s pair and silver in the eight; and notably 11 of our 14 first time Olympians won medals from entries in the women’s double and women and men’s eight. DEVELOPMENT In 2019 Rowing NZ conducted a review of the athlete development pathway, which highlighted areas of development primarily focused around
