Koru Match at Skandia Sail for Gold in Weymouth. Image copyright Koru Match.
by Koru Match media
It has been rough few weeks for Koru Match, however the team has held strong.
The Sail for Gold Regatta (SFG) in early June, held in Weymouth – UK, went from bad to worse for the girls. Unfortunately the team didn’t hit the event with a “bang” and struggled to find their feet throughout the competition. The team was disappointed with their dismal finish of 19th. This result meant that Koru did not reach the performance standard required to be selected as part of the NZ team at this year’s Test event in Weymouth. Koru Match is extremely disappointed to miss out on being part of the New Zealand 2011 Pre-Olympic Team as they felt that it would have been a valuable opportunity.
Even though the result in Weymouth was poor, the girls held a country ranking of 7th (after SFG) for the ISAF World Cup Series. The team opted out of the last event in Kiel, to do some training against the Finnish, which dropped the team’s ranking to 9th.
What seems like a month of hard knocks, the team remains positive and determined. The girls have chosen to keep the big picture in mind and are happy with their overall progress during the European Tour, “We remain focussed on our ultimate goal of being selected to attend the 2012 Olympic Games and being medal contenders a little over twelve months from now. There are many team strengths and it’s just a matter of putting it all together,” says the team.
Koru Match are disappointed with their result at SFG and know that they are capable of more, as their Miami (7th overall - 6th country) and Palma (5th overall - 4th country) results show. The team is focusing on a solid result at the ISAF World Championships in Perth – Australia in December 2011, which is the first Olympic qualification event. The team will continue to train in Europe till August. From there it will be back to New Zealand to put some solid hours into the gym and on the water.
We appreciate your support.
Koru Match is Stephanie Hazard (Helm), Jenna Hansen (Trim) and Susannah Pyatt (Bow).
Koru Match
