Kiwi pair is FISA’s world rowing Crew of the Year

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Kiwi pair is FISA’s world rowing Crew of the Year

Three time world men’s pair champions Eric Murray and Hamish Bond have been confirmed as the 2011 FISA Crew of the Year – the ultimate accolade from the world governing body of the sport.

The pair, who have been unbeaten internationally for three seasons, follow the Evers-Swindell twins and five time world sculling champion Mahé Drysdale in securing the award.

Murray and Bond have become – along with arch rivals from great Britain Andrew Triggs Hodge and Peter Reid – superstars of the sport after three years of nail-biting encounters on the water, battles that have sometimes seen the Kiwis win by huge margins and other times, notably at Karapiro in 2010, by just a few centimetres. The Kiwis, however, have never been beaten by the British number one boat.

In three unbeaten seasons, as well as three world titles they have won World Cup regattas in Lucerne (three times), Munich (three times), Bled and Hamburg, and won the prestigious Silver Goblets for open pairs at the Henley Royal Regatta in 2009 and 2010 – again vanquishing the British on their home water.

In 2007 the two were in the four which won a very close world championship title in Munich, racing back from sixth place at halfway through to an ‘on the line’ win. The Beijing Olympic regatta the following year, however, was a disappointment, with only a B final win (securing a seventh place overall finish) to come home with. It was that result that motivated the duo to go into the pair and they have not looked back since. They head to the London 2012 Olympic regatta as one of the favourites for a medal.

“For any rower it is a great honour to secure the FISA Crew of the Year award, mainly because of the other names that have won it. Rowers have a lot of respect for the great athletes that have inspired them and come before them, so that is a big part of it for us,” explained Bond.

“Beijing gave us the opportunity to re-focus on the four years ahead and it has been great to be so successful in the pair, but the job is not complete for us yet,” added Murray. “We genuinely love to race and look forward to every international season after thousands upon thousands of kilometres training in New Zealand. It’s not an easy life by any means as every international rower will tell you, and recognition at this level is huge for us.”

Following public nomination which attracted nearly 2,000 submissions, the final selection of awardees was made by the Executive Committee of the International Rowing Federation (FISA). The winners will be announced Saturday morning NZ time during the World Rowing Coaches Conference Gala Dinner in Varese, Italy.

ENDS

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