Meridian Continues To Invest In SI Rowing's Future

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From Left to right – Nicky Coles (former rowing pairs world champion and Olympian, and Regional Coach Canterbury Rowing), Mel Seyfort (Meridian Sponsorship Manager), and John Wylie (South Island Rowing’s Regional Manager in Canterbury) at Kerr’s Reach, with the Avonside Girls’ High School Quad in the background.

Media release for immediate use
Monday, 10 August 2009

MERIDIAN CONTINUES TO INVEST IN FUTURE OF SOUTH ISLAND ROWING

Meridian is proud to announce a three-year renewal of its sponsorship agreement with South Island Rowing.

John Wylie, South Island Rowing's Regional Manager in Canterbury, says he is absolutely delighted with the news.

“The continuance of international success by New Zealand rowers is to a large degree dependent on the support given to the developmental processes for our rowers,” he says.

Meridian has sponsored South Island Rowing for ten years, including support for the high performance squad RPC South The Ratas since 2006.

Rowing in the South Island has had a long association with the electricity industry. Lake Ruataniwha incorporated an international specification regatta course during its construction and Meridian's predecessors Electricorp and ECNZ also sponsored rowing.

Mel Seyfort, Meridian's Sponsorship Manager, says the three-year sponsorship agreement is a real demonstration of Meridian's continued commitment to, and support for rowing.

“Meridian's partnership has been one based on youth, excellence and education. It is great to see the outstanding results of our rowers on the international stage and know that our sponsorship has helped a number of athletes achieve their goals.

“It's hard to think of rowing in the South Island without thinking of Twizel, where many of Meridian's generation assets are, as well as a number of our staff. We really enjoy seeing the Twizel population swell each summer with young rowers competing on our hydro-storage lakes.

“The three-year sponsorship agreement helps provide certainty for South Island Rowing,” she says.

John Wylie says Meridian's sponsorship is integral in ensuring rowers can continue to develop so they can perform at the highest level. Without this support, our rowers wouldn't be continually winning world titles at every level."

“The maintenance of the rowing pathway is only made possible by support from Meridian,” he says.

“The support helps our rowers reach their potential. The international standards are always going up, so we need to make sure our developmental processes keep pace and indeed have an edge on the rest of the world."

He says an early identification of Avonside Girls' High School student Emma Feathery and her subsequent development is the perfect example of what can be achieved, thanks to Meridian's sponsorship of rowing in the South Island.

“Back in 2000 Emma was racing in school regattas. Her talent was recognised and she became part of our development programme. Nine years later she's racing at the elite level and winning World Cup races. Without Meridian's support at the developmental level, Emma would not be at the top of world competition."

Meridian's sponsorship also helps to support major regattas held on Lake Ruantaniwha over the summer, the Rata Performance Centre, as well as rower development in the South Island.

ENDS

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