The golden New Zealand team. / L'équipe Néo-zélandaise médaillée d'or.
Front row, from left to right / Première rangée, de gauche à droite: Juliette Haigh, Georgina Evers-Swindell, Nathan Twaddle, Caroline Evers-Swindell.
Back row, from left to right / Deuxième rangée, de gauche à droite: Mahe Drysdale, George Bridgewater, Nicky Coles
The setting: the 2005 World
Rowing Championships in Gifu,
Japan. The event: the men’s single.
The time: 12: 30 pm. Sporting the
black of New Zealand, Mahe
Drysdale sat in lane five after
coming through the semi-final
with the second qualifying time.
The starting horn sounded and
Drysdale took the lead remaining
in that spot until the finish line. On
the medals podium Drysdale
stood in the centre listening to his
national anthem.
The next race came down Gifu’s
Nagaragawa Rowing Course: the women's
pair. The time: 12:45 pm. Nicky Coles
and Juliette Haigh, rowing for New
Zealand, had pushed past Australia to
take the lead. At the end of the race they
watched their nation's flag flying on the
centre mast.
The men’s pair event followed. The time:
1 pm. Nathan Twaddle and George
Bridgewater jumped out at the start,
Drysdale-style, and never looked back.
The duo secured gold medal number
three for New Zealand.
Back at the start line reigning champions
Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell
were positioning themselves in lane three
of the women’s double final. The time:
1: 15 pm. A powerful opening piece >>
