The Sun
sport
Sport inbrief
England are ready The English cricketers are refusing to buy into talk of a Black Caps side in disarray ahead of their touropening Twenty20 series. England’s limited overs squad arrived in Auckland on Wednesday evening and are set to begin preparations with two warm-up matches in Whangarei next week. They will then play the Black Caps in three Twenty20s and three one-day internationals ahead of the Test series in March.
Vettori unlikely Daniel Vettori says his chances of playing the three-test series against England remain slim, with the return tour in May-June a more realistic goal. And New Zealand’s top strike bowler Tim Southee is an unconfirmed starter against England as he makes a measured recovery from thumb surgery.
Brad Thorn has arrived One of the Highlanders’ major off-season signings, the nomadic, World Cup-winning All Black Brad Thorn, joined his new team-mates in Central Otago last Friday and has been settling into Dunedin this week. With four children aged from 3 to 9 in the Thorn family, there has been a long list of logistics to tick off, along with Dad starting his new job and the kids starting school next week.
New swim coach Swimming New Zealand has secured the services of world-renowned coach Bill Sweetenham in a temporary role as high performance coach. Sweetenham, former Australia head coach and performance director for Great Britain, will start on February 8, following the resignation of coaches Mark Regan and Scott Talbot, who is now at the New South Wales Institute.
Friday February 1, 2013
15
sports talk
Planting a cycling seed It was interesting listening to Olympic bronze medallist Simon Van Velthooven mentoring a group of young Marlborough cyclists in Blenheim last week. The matter of enjoying the sport was important, he said, but he painted a picture which showed that New Zealand’s recent cycling success on the track is the result of a lot of sweat, science, grit and sheer desire to win. Winning that bronze medal of his in the keirin event at the London Olympic Games clearly came down to amazing determination and dedication by van Velthooven.
He said that whenever he sits down to eat, he asks himself whether it would help him achieve his goals. That’s the sort of approach needed to achieve at a high level. If you’ve been around sport for awhile you can become rather blasé when another top sports star comes to town. However, I was impressed with van Velthooven. He spent an hour talking to the young cyclists and answering their questions. Then he brought out his bronze medal from London and each of the kids had the chance to hold
it in their hands, examine it and even wear it. That’s a moment those kids will remember for a long time and who knows what comes out of this. Perhaps van Velthooven has planted a seed and some new cycling star will emerge from Marlborough. Meanwhile, a report came through yesterday saying cricket legend Shane Warne thinks former New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming should coach Australia. Who would have believed this once. The great Don Bradman might be spinning in his grave
Chris Tobin chris@blenheimsun.co.nz
over that one. Or maybe not. Sport has changed a lot in recent years. I suppose I’m out of touch but I dislike seeing what has happened in rugby for example, where ‘Deano’ Deans, a Kiwi and ex-All Black, coached the Wallabies against the All Blacks. That doesn’t seem right to me.
New challenge for Sullivan By Emily Elliott He has always wanted to do it, and next weekend the Olympian will give it all he has to make sure he finishes. Olympic gold medal rower, Joseph Sullivan, will he heading down south to compete in the Speight’s annual Coast-to-Coast event. Sullivan’s aim is not only to finish the course, but to complete it in one day, as opposed to two. “Now seems like a good time to do it, in the build up to Rio.” As well as being back in full swing training with the New Zealand Squad, Sullivan has used his afternoons off to train for the 243km rugged course.
Joseph Sullivan
The course involves cycling 140kms, which is broken into three parts, running 36kms through the Southern Alps, and kayaking
67kms through the Waimakariri Gorge, known as the Grand Canyon of New Zealand. According to Sullivan, it was difficult fitting training in, but he has been mixing and matching what he does to get in shape for the day. “I’m kayaking on my afternoons off. “[Earlier this week] I flew down and did the mountain range, and it’s a long climb and a long descent.” Sullivan believes it would have been nice to be able to train a little bit more for the course, and he has a lot of respect for the others doing it. The rower knows he is in for a challenge, as he has Nationals the
following week. “I’ll give myself some time off before Nationals, but I’ll assess how much on the day,” said Sullivan. “The training I’ve done for Coast-to-Coast will be beneficial in the long run, but it’s made me a bit slower at the moment!” When asked why he is going through with the famously rugged course, Sullivan said it was good to have a new goal and a good change. “It’s something to go for - keep things lively.” The event is being held on the 8th and 9th of February, starting at Kumara Beach and ending at Sumner Beach.
Rugby season draws near The Bayley’s Tasman Trophy rugby competition between Marlborough and Nelson Bays clubs starts on May 11. In pool A are Waitohi, Awatere and Moutere from Marlborough; and Nelson clubs Waimea, Stoke, Nelson and Riwaka.
Pool B comprises Harlequins, Central and Renwick along with Wakatu-Marist, Huia and Wanderers. In the opening round, Waitohi host Riwaka at Picton, Moutere host Stoke and Awatere also have a home game against Nelson.
In pool B, Harlequins play Wanderers at Lansdowne Park in Blenheim, Renwick are away at Trafalgar Park to Wakatu-Marist and Huia host Central at Motueka. The Marlborough premier club season starts on April 6.
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