NZ Equestrian High Performance Squads Named

Hopes are high New Zealand will be represented in all three equestrian disciplines at the 2012 Olympics with the naming of high performance squads this week.

Equestrian Sports New Zealand High Performance Director Sarah Harris says it is an exciting time for the sport with their first cut looking towards the London Olympics.

Squads have been named in eventing, show jumping and dressage looking forward to both the 2012 London Olympics and 2014 World Equestrian Games.

“It's the first time in a long while that all three Olympic disciplines genuinely have someone who could compete at the (London) Olympics,” she says.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, spear-heading the charge is the 2010 World Equestrian Games Eventing bronze medal-winning team of Andrew Nicholson, Mark Todd, Caroline Powell and Clarke Johnstone, with seventh placed individual Jonathan Paget also in the mix. Last year it was Paget and Johnstone who effectively forced their way into the 2010 World Games team after notching excellent results, and Blyth Tait, who recently came out of retirement, has made no secret of his desires to once again win gold medals for New Zealand.

“Eventing 2012 Squad is strong and we've opted to keep them together as a team to ensure they drive each other's performances,” says Harris. “It's been a while since we've had numbers like this on the ground this far out.”

The in-form Katie McVean, who also rode for New Zealand at the World Games last year, is the only one named for showjumping.

Harris is confident McVean will have a good shot at qualifying an individual place for London at the qualifying competition in Aachen, Germany in July and may be joined by other combinations in the coming months.

“It's very early in the European and American seasons, so I think we will see some more combinations added in the months to come.”

Missing from the line-up is high-ranking Samantha McIntosh who this month leaves her Europe base to shift back to New Zealand.

Two of the dressage riders named have strong eventing links. Penny Castle coaches Paget and fellow squad member Lizzie Brown, while Vanessa Way works closely with Johnstone.

Both Way and Castle head to Australia later this month to further their chances to move up to a 2012 squad.

“We've flagged our three dressage combinations as 2014 World Games potentials but they could step up and get to London,” says Harris.  “They need to be in the top 30 in the world to make the grade,” says Harris.

Criteria had been tough, and the high performance management challenged all disciplines in an effort to ensure anyone named on a squad was there for good reason.

“It will bode well for the future that we've been this tough. They've all stepped up though, and it's an exciting time that we have performance pathways like this through to major events.”

 

Squads 2012:

Eventing: Andrew Nicholson (UK) Nereo, Avebury, Mr Cruise Control, Armada, Mark Todd (UK) NZB Grass Valley, Major Milestone; Jonathan Paget (UK) Clifton Promise; Clarke Johnstone (Waikato) Orient Express; Caroline Powell (UK) Mac MacDonald.

Showjumping: Katie McVean (Waikato/Holland) Dunstan Delphi.

 

Squads 2014:

Eventing: Lucy Jackson (UK) Animator II, Lizzie Brown (Waikato) Henton Attorney General; Jonelle Richards (UK) Finstar; Joe Myer (UK) Sanskrit; Neil Spratt (UK) Upleadon. Mark Todd (UK) NZB Landvision, Andrew Nicholson (UK) Shady Gray, Oplitas; Caroline Powell (UK) Boston Two Tips.

Dressage: Penny Castle (Palmerston North) Gymstar One, Louisa Hill (Auckland) Bates Antonello, Vanessa Way (Taranaki) KH Arvan.

 

For more information on the squads, criteria and expected performance targets, head to http://www.nzequestrian.org.nz/Article.aspx?Mode=1&ID=3152&ESID=4927  or contact:

Sarah Harris – ESNZ High Performance Director        Warrick Allan – ESNZ High Performance Operations Manager

sarah@nzequestrian.org.nz                                      warrick@nzequestrian.org.nz

027 6631977                                                             0272445214