Emma Twigg, a gold medallist in the Tokyo Games in 2020 and a silver medallist in this year's Olympics in Paris, and Lucy Spoors, who won silver in Tokyo and gold in Paris, were the star attractions at the Whakatipu Rowing Club’s ‘‘Champions Evening’’ on Thursday.
The event was held at Arthurs Point’s Cargo Collective Brew Hall, where they spoke about their rowing careers, reflected on their Olympic experiences, and helped inspire the next generation.
Money raised from the event - which included an auction - will go towards the rowing club’s club house redevelopment project.
The project began last summer with four boat sheds - the second stage, costed at $1,052,000, replaces the club’s existing rowing shed with a two-level facility which would include showers, toilets, a gym and erg room, a meeting room, kitchen and viewing balcony.
To date, the club had received $100,000 from the Hugo Charitable Trust, $233,000 from Central Lakes Trust, and $105,000 from Impact100 Wakatipu.
Twigg said she "jumped at the chance" to attend the event.
"I love coming to Queenstown, and we’re just stoked to be giving back to the local rowing community.
"Some of the kids got to have our medals and wear them and see what it’s all about, which is what we love about what we do, really.
"We love getting back into the rowing community - we don’t get to do it too often, because our schedule’s pretty jam-packed, so when the opportunity arose and our calendars aligned, it was a no- brainer to come down here and support it."
Spoors said it was a "joy" to be in Queenstown.
"I love coming down here and, as a South Island girl who grew up, I guess, doing all my regattas on Ruataniwha, I appreciate coming down and being able to give back to a local club that, to me, feels really close to home."
Reflecting on the past couple of months, post the Olympics, Twigg said it had been a different experience than she had after Tokyo, when the athletes returned to New Zealand and "went straight into a lock down."
"This has been amazing - getting out and about, showing the kids our medals, seeing their faces light up, it makes it all worth it."
Twigg said the response from New Zealanders had been "so overwhelming".
"It’s been one of my favourite parts, to ... get back into the local community and have everybody tell you that they were sitting on their couch ... screaming for you on the TV.
"It’s been really special to me and I’ve been so overwhelmed by the support, I can’t thank Kiwis enough."
While both women were enjoying some downtime, Spoors was now preparing for her upcoming wedding, while Twigg was looking forward to doing some coastal rowing, which would make its debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, and hoped to help in the development of that sport.
