2010 rowing champs selects staff

New Zealand has progressed in preparation for the 2010 World Rowing Championships with a number of key appointments recently being made for the running of the event.

Last year Tom Mayo was hired as the chief executive officer and he will soon be joined by a new venue director (Chris Johnson), venue construction manager (David Holland), competition director (Lee Spear), adaptive rowing coordinator (Karen Rickerby), services director (Karina Weaver) and media & communications manager (Richard Gee).

“We may be two years out from the event, but it is vital to put all of these positions in place now to ensure we meet our target of staging the best ever World Rowing Championships,” says Mayo.

The appointments were chosen from an international and national search, says Mayo. Those appointed will build up to being full-time two months prior to the start of the Championships.

The Championships were originally planned to be held in September, as is typical when held in Europe, but last year at the FISA Congress a decision was made to change the dates. It will now be held from 31 October to 7 November.

Mayo says, “The weather at that time of year (November) is a lot more settled than August/September and also a less likely chance of wind and rain. Also it is not just the competition we have had to think about but also the amount of construction work. When building the venue, the better the weather the easier it becomes. The shift in date has also helped us with media as the timing now gives us a clean media window (no other major sports events to overlap).”

There have been a number of post-Olympic retirements on the New Zealand rowing team, but so far Mayo says that interest to continue has come from Olympic women’s pair rower Juliette Haigh and two members of the Olympic men’s four, James Dallinger and Carl Meyer.

The 2010 World Rowing Championship website is to be revamped later this year. Its current form can be found at: www.wrch2010.com