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Debutante Crow set to take on the Worlds

 

Debutante Crow set to take on the Worlds

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Kim Crow hadn’t set foot inside a rowing boat 12 months ago. This month the 20-year-old from the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) will represent Australia...

Kim Crow hadn’t set foot inside a rowing boat 12 months ago. This month the 20-year-old from the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) will represent Australia at the upcoming World Cup event in Germany and potentially row for gold at the World Rowing Championships in Eton, England in August.

Crow had been training at the VIS in athletics — where she specialised in the 400 metre hurdles and the 800 metres — until she was struck down by a series of stress fractures to her foot.

“I was in the middle of some rehabilitation training when someone at the talent identification program at the VIS came and said I should give rowing a go,” Crow said.

“I went to a school where rowing was a big deal, but the only exposure I had to the sport was watching it at the Olympics.’”

Now the Victorian is part of a national squad boasting Olympic- and World Championship-winning crews.

“When I began I didn’t realise how hard it was going to be. I was splashing around in a single scull hoping not to catch five crabs a race," she said.

"But I am really enjoying the team aspect of rowing. The training is very difficult — there's a lot more cardio and long distance work which I found difficult in the beginning."

Crow has boldly set her sights on making the Olympic team in her new sport - the one thing that she says drove her athletics career.

She also has the full support of her parents, including her father — 200-game VFL veteran Max Crow.

"Mum and Dad have been hugely supportive and encouraging throughout the last 12 months, despite the fact that they have very little knowledge of rowing at all," she said.

The Munich World Cup will be held from 25 to 27 May, the Poznan World Cup from 16 to 18 June and the World Rowing Championships in Eton, England from 20 to 27 August.

Rowing Australia

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