Double Olympic Sailing medalist to join Canoe Racing NZ

by Canoe Racing NZ/Sail-World NZ 15 Jun 2018 22:43 PDT 16 June 2018

Double Olympic medallist Polly Powrie is joining Canoe Racing NZ (CRNZ) as the new High Performance Operations Manager.

The Operations Manager position is a new role that CRNZ has created as part of a restructure process in which the High Performance Director role has been disestablished.

Polly will have two main areas of responsibility. Firstly, she will ensure that CRNZ's athletes and coaches have the best possible logistical support to help them perform at the top level. This will include travelling to international events as CRNZ's team manager. Secondly, she will be responsible for building new systems and processes in CRNZ so that the organisation runs more effectively. This ties in with CRNZ’s goal of providing a World-class organisation to support their World-class athletes and coaches.

Polly said "I am delighted to join the team at CRNZ and I'm excited about the opportunity to contribute to a fantastic programme. Having spent the last two years outside sport in corporate roles, I'm looking forward to being back in the sporting sector and working alongside dedicated support staff and athletes."

Gordon Walker, head coach of the women’s program, was part of the panel involved in Polly’s recruitment. “I’m really stoked to have Polly join the team at CRNZ and can’t wait to start working with her,” says Gordon. “Polly not only comes with an incredible sporting resume but also a set of personal skills which I think will add a lot of value to the programme both now and in the future.

"With the team growing fast and the desire to move the sport forwards it is going to be awesome to have someone like Polly supporting the athletes in making our planning and touring fully professional. It is also exciting to have someone who we know performs well under pressure supporting the athletes in a management role in pinnacle events like the Olympics."

Another Sailing Gold Medalist, Tom Ashley joined CRNZ in February as CEO.

Canoe Racing NZ is now based in its own High Performance Centre alongside Rowing at Lake Karapiro, near Cambridge.

Ironically Yachting New Zealand is current advertising for a Womens Sailing Manager. Two former NZ Olympic Yachting Team members, Sara Winther and Caroline Brisebois have crossed the Tasman and joined Australian Sailing in the last 12 months.