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The government's announcement today of a boost to High Performance funding has been a positive move for Rowing New Zealand
After months of uncertainty the outstanding funds have been committed to Rowing New Zealand to pay off the remaining costs of the High Performance Centre at Karapiro. In a collaboration between Rowing New Zealand, Mighty River Power, and the Government the funds have been covered the outstanding costs of the project. Minister of sport, Murray McCully said “As a first step we have moved to fully fund the remaining debt ($1.8 million) on the $4.4 million Karapiro rowing high performance centre through a direct $1 million Government grant, a $300,000 contribution from SPARC, and a $500,000 contribution from Mighty River Power. With the World Rowing Championships being hosted at Lake Karapiro later this year, the Government wanted our rowers focused on winning medals, not running cake stalls to raise funds. This first step is part of an initial commitment by the government with a $15 million injection from Lottery Grants Board reserves, of which $10 million has already been received by SPARC. Indications are that the Gallagher HP Centre at Karapiro will also be the home of kayaking's High Performance arm. It has been clearly shown that with the proper strategy the investment of funds in HP sport will pay dividends. The surging performance of the British rowing crews over recent years can be matched to the surging input of money to the sport, currently running annually at 27 miliion pounds (NZ$ 57 million).
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Rowing News 
