National Pathway Announcement
Rowing NZ is pleased to announce the first cohort of athletes selected on to the National Pathway.
Over the course of the winter, athletes have been engaged in winter development programmes across the country supported through the Rowing Associations. Athletes were due to be attending the National Development Camp & Regatta at Lake Karāpiro, Cambridge last week which unfortunately had to be cancelled due to the covid-19 restrictions.
The current list of National Pathway athletes can be found here. Selection to the National Pathway can take place throughout the year, so the list will be continually updated.
As a result of the consultations that have been taking place through the winter, a tier structure has been implemented as part of the National pathway framework. Athletes are assigned to tiers based on their entry level and can move through the tiers at any time through the year if appropriate.
Selection to tier 3 of the National Pathway is achieved through meeting threshold standards as identified on the RNZ performance curves (further information available here). Selection to tier 3 provides an opportunity for athletes to join education programmes, sharing knowledge and expertise from providers that work within the Rowing NZ performance programmes with the aim of helping athletes to learn about the sport and how to optimise their own development.
Selection to an U19, U21 or World University team assigns an athlete to tier 2. Athletes can also gain selection to tier 2 by achieving the RNZ Target line (norm) within the performance curve. At tier 2, the individual development planning (IDP) process will help the athlete to work towards their targets, applying the knowledge and strategies that they have learnt to aid training and racing.
Athletes who have been selected to an U23 team or are competitive at premier level can be assigned to tier 1. At tier 1 athletes are looking to refine the skills that they have developed and make a final push for selection to the centralised performance programme.
All athletes that were involved in the regional winter programmes will be invited to attend the education programmes running from October. This will ensure that any athletes that have been unable to secure their selection due to the covid-19 lockdown do not miss out. At this point, Rowing NZ is encouraging athletes to take a break before the club season gets underway.