NTID Squad to Tour New Zealand Announced

25 of Australia’s next generation of rowers have been selected to travel as part of the ASC’s National Talent and Identification (NTID) squad to New Zealand later this month.  The squad includes three Queenslanders, Jake Edwards and Patrick Connors from Brisbane State High School and Yannick Dixon from Centenary Rowing Club.

The athletes will leave for New Zealand on Tuesday 18 May and compete in a three day Winter Series Regatta (May 21-23), an event aimed at giving international exposure to youth athletes.

The regatta will be held on Lake Karapiro, just outside the North Island city of Hamilton, which will also host the 2010 World Rowing Championships in November.

The tour is being used by the NTID program as an important step in each athlete’s pathway into international rowing and will be used as a stepping stone for the group to attend further NTID camps and regattas.

NTID Senior Coordinator Wayne Diplock says the tour, which is being run for the second year, has a large part to play in Australian rowing.

“Rowing Australia and the ASC NTID program are making significant headway at uncovering our next generation of international rowers and this tour is just another part of this process,” Diplock said.

“Some of these 25 athletes narrowly missed out on making the 2010 Australian Junior Rowing Team, but are still very much of our future plans and this tour will allow them to race at international level.

“Both the Australian Junior Team and our NTID touring group contains some rowers with excellent skills and strength and we look forward to seeing their continued development in both New Zealand and in the future.”

The NTID squad will arrive in Canberra on Thursday 13 May for a four day departure camp at the AIS, while the team will return to Australia on Monday 24 May.

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