It’s always exciting welcoming a new member to our small team, especially when she’s a long-time great mate and Olympic rowing champion.
Emma remembers looking up to then NZ junior rower Simon Lack 20-years ago at the Hawke’s Bay Rowing Club on the banks of the Clive River as she began her journey into what would become a life-long passion.
Although one has won multiple world titles in rowing, while the other focuses on building the best racing rowing boats, Emma and Simon have always had a common goal – to be the best and at the top of their game
So, it made perfect sense for Emma to align herself with SL Racing as their first ambassador. Emma believes the quality of SL Racing’s boats are unrivalled, and the amount of effort and care Simon, Hamish and the team put into every design is unsurpassed.
“The difference between an SLR boat and others that I’ve raced is just the quality of the workmanship and the attention to detail they put into little things, like rigging and getting that perfect. That’s something I’ve worked with Simon on a lot over the last few years to develop.”
Emma Twigg, SL Racing Ambassador
With big plans to design and develop their boats to perform at an elite level, Emma is the perfect contender to take SL Racing to the world stage. “I think SL Racing boats are up there with some of the best in the world, and I’m really looking forward to being in them more often and to hopefully one day being able to race them internationally as well.”
But this ambassador role isn’t just about helping develop the worlds’ best boats and competing. Emma is passionate about her sport and giving back to the community that supported her for so many years. “I think it’s essential to have role models in sport, I definitely had some as a young girl, so I hope to be a positive one for young rowers in this ambassador role with SL Racing.”
And what does life look like for Emma beyond Olympics and world champs? “I hope that I can leave some kind of legacy in terms of giving back to the sport because I think that’s the ultimate. You can win all the accolades you want but giving something meaningful back afterwards is a true legacy. I think NZ’s rowing future is very bright, we’ve got a huge amount of depth, and even at club level now, there’s a talent that goes far deeper than before. So, I think the future is exciting and bright, and I think SL Racing is going to be part of making sure that these young athletes have a future in our sport as well”.
We can’t wait to see what the future holds with Emma on board.
