Rowing: Another haul for Port Utd

Port United gold medallist rowers Robyn Cameron (left), Imogen Coxhead and Karen Thompson. Photo...
Port United gold medallist rowers Robyn Cameron (left), Imogen Coxhead and Karen Thompson. Photo by Peter McIntosh.

Port United rowers Imogen Coxhead and Robyn Cameron are not goldminers. They just collect rowing gold medals.

Coxhead (53), editor of the Otago University Press, added three gold medals to her collection at the Masters Games rowing on Otago Harbour at the weekend.

She has now won 25 gold medals at New Zealand Masters Games or at national masters rowing championships.

''I keep my medals in a shoebox. I will have to move up to a trunk soon,'' Coxhead joked.

Cameron (52), an IT specialist, added two gold medals to her collection at the weekend. She now has 18 from national events.

Coxhead won her first gold medal of the Masters Games in the single sculls in the 50 to 54 age-group when she beat Dorothee Pauli (Union, Christchurch).

She then teamed with Cameron to win the double sculls in the same age-group ahead of North End and Cure.

The third gold medal for Coxhead was in the quadruple sculls with Cameron, Karen Thompson and Michelle Johnston.

The same crew could have gained another gold medal in the four but they crashed early in the race and just failed to catch Helen Drijfhout's Otago club crew.

''I like rowing because it's a full-body sport,'' Coxhead said.

''I also enjoy training on Otago Harbour, especially down at Port Chalmers where it is not as busy as in town.''

Cameron likes the competition, and winning - ''especially after it comes from hard work and training''.

Cameron showed her versatility at the games by also winning a gold medal in the 50km road race in cycling. Lindsay Cameron, her husband, won a gold medal in mountain biking.

The Port United club will be sending a team to the world masters championships in Ballarat, Australia, in October.

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