31 Aug 2017

Manson confident he'll compete at world champs

11:50 am on 31 August 2017

New Zealand sculler Robbie Manson says he's confident he can manage the rib muscle strain he's nursing as he eyes up the World Rowing Championships in Florida next month.

NZ rower Robbie Manson

NZ rower Robbie Manson Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Manson has been carrying the injury since his record setting World Cup performance in Poland in June and raced with it through his gold medal performance in the Lucerne regatta in July.

Manson says he's training on the bike at the moment to let the muscle recover and doesn't think the injury will derail his run for gold in Florida.

"I'm out of the boat at the moment and I have been for the last two weeks, but it's healing well and I'm slowly starting to reintroduce a bit of load into it, but I've been keeping fit on the bike so certainly haven't lost any fitness."

New Zealand has 13 boat classes competing at the World Championships in Sarasota, Florida at the end of September.

That includes crews in 12 Olympic boat classes including the addition of a men's and women's coxless four, which has recently been added to the Olympic programme.

Crews are training at Lake Karapiro before departing for Florida on September 14th.

For the first time in many years the squad doesn't include multiple Olympic and world champions Mahe Drysdale, Hamish Bond and Eric Murray.

Drysdale has just returned to training after a year off, Murray has retired and Bond will race in the World Road Cycling Championships in Norway next month.

-RNZ