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Revised PEGs awards welcomed by Rowing New Zealand

Wednesday 29 July 2009, 12:18PM

By Rowing New Zealand

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Revised PEGs funding should encourage more athletes like the Under 23 World Champion Coxless Four (from left Tyson Williams, Hamish Burson, Simon Watson and Jade Uru) to commit long term to the sport in the quest for Gold at the highest level
Revised PEGs funding should encourage more athletes like the Under 23 World Champion Coxless Four (from left Tyson Williams, Hamish Burson, Simon Watson and Jade Uru) to commit long term to the sport in the quest for Gold at the highest level Credit: Rowing New Zealand

Rowing New Zealand has welcomed the announcement by SPARC that the country’s top athletes will receive increased payments as part of a revised Performance Enhancement Grants (PEGs) programme.

 

The revisions to the PEGs programme were confirmed this week and will mean increased payments across the board for Rowing New Zealand’s athletes if they perform well at the forthcoming World Rowing Championships in Poznan, Poland next month.

 

“After another great weekend when our Under 23 team won three gold medals and a bronze, this is great news and adds another dimension to the significant support we receive from SPARC,” commented Rowing NZ CEO Simon Peterson.

 

“The athlete-focussed approach will definitely help us retain our champions, our up and coming athletes, as well as the established members of our successful elite team. It’s a positive message that if they perform well, they will be rewarded.

 

“The revisions bring the athletes’ income significantly closer to the level of the commitment required to be a professional rower based at Karapiro.”

Under the revised PEGs programme, Word Champions will receive a pre-tax payment of $60,000, medallists $55,000, 4th - 6th placed athletes $47,500, 7th - 8th $40,000 and 9th- 12th $25,000.

 

Each targeted sport – including rowing – will also receive a discretionary award out of which they can support athletes that do not meet PEGs criteria, or top up grants already being received by qualifying athletes.

 

Rowing New Zealand and other major sports were consulted on the changes to the PEGs programme during an extensive SPARC review of the PEGs programme. The changes will be introduced retrospectively from July 1st 2009.