Otago champion Lucy Strack (North End) after winning the
women's single sculls at the Otago Rowing championships at
Lake Ruataniwha last weekend. Photo supplied.
Lucy Strack (North End) is a lucky lightweight sculler
who can eat what she likes and not put on weight.
To be eligible to compete in lightweight events a female
rower must keep her weight under 59kg.
Strack has the metabolism that allows her to maintain her
weight at around 57-58kg.
"It is not a problem for me," Strack told the Otago Daily
Times from Christchurch yesterday.
"I can eat a lot more than other lightweight rowers and still
maintain my weight."
Strack knows the importance of sound nutrition for a top
sportswoman and tries to have a good balance of carbohydrates
and proteins.
"My favourite food is a roast," she said.
"But I don't eat any special foods."
Strack (20) was studying art at Canterbury University last
year, but switched to a diploma of sports massage to fit in
with her rowing.
"I decided to study something that would be good for my
sport," she said.
"I'm learning a lot about the body and how it works."
Strack grew up in Dunedin but must train and live in
Christchurch to be part of the Southern Regional Performance
Centre to advance in rowing.
But she still wears the North End club colours at regattas.
Her coach in Christchurch is Gary Hay and her strength coach
is Greg Thompson.
"I have the benefit of having access to a wide range of
coaches at the Academy of Sport at Queen Elizabeth II Park,"
she said.
Her aim this year is to win the premier lightweight single
sculls at the New Zealand championships on Lake Karapiro next
month.
She is also contesting the lightweight double sculls with
Kate French, of the Waihopai Club, in Southland.
Longer term, her target is to make the New Zealand under-23
team for the world championships in Belarus in July.
Strack improved her ergometer time by 6sec to 7min 13sec on
the 2km course this season to qualify for a national trial.
This is Strack's second year at the performance centre in
Christchurch and she has already had good results.
Last year Strack was a member of the Southern Regional
Performance Centre crew that won a bronze medal in the
women's premier lightweight double sculls at the New Zealand
championships on Lake Ruataniwha.
She also trained with the New Zealand elite crews on Lake
Karapiro as she prepared to represent the New Zealand
under-21 team at the Rusty Robertson Trophy competition
against Australian state teams on the 2000 Olympic Games
course at Penrith, near Sydney.
That was a successful venture for Strack who came home with
gold medals in the lightweight double sculls and the
heavyweight quadruple sculls.
Strack started rowing when she was a pupil at St Hildas
Collegiate and made a significant advance in her career when
she finished runner-up in the senior girls single sculls at
the Maadi Cup regatta on Lake Karapiro in 2007.
She was then selected for the New Zealand Youth Cup team that
won the Rusty Robertson Trophy at the Nagambie Lakes in
Victoria.
She won a gold medal in the eight.
Strack has the 2012 Olympic Games firmly in her sights, and
is training up to five hours a day to achieve her goal.
Like any elite sportswoman Strack does not have much free
time and tries to make the most of her special spare moments.
"I like to hang out with my friends and flatmates and I make
sure I keep in touch with my school friends and the girls I
have grown up with."
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