Malaria halts training for Waikato cox
http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikatotimes/4682791a6004.html
"Cant make it 2 training have malaria," As text message excuses go, Laura Breitenstein's one was impressive.
The 21-year-old coxswain for the Waikato University's women's crew competing in tomorrow's Gallagher Great Race event had to skip training recently after being struck down with the disease following a trip back to her native Zimbabwe.
"In between semesters Laura went back to Zimbabwe to visit her parents in Harare and got bitten by a mozzie," said the crew's coach, Steve Wills.
"I got a text telling me that she was going to have to miss training for a few days," he said. "I thought she had a pretty good excuse."
Breitenstein has recovered to take her place in the boat for her third appearance in the race on the Waikato River tomorrow against Sydney University for the Bryan Gould Cup, starting at noon.
In the men's event, starting at 1pm, a Waikato University crew featuring Beijing Olympic bronze medallist Nathan Twaddle will look to see off the challenge of this year's visitors, Cambridge University.
The hosts have been beaten only once since the event began in 2002, but Cambridge are well-prepared and the visiting crews this week have been pooling their information and experience of navigating the 4.2km upstream course in an effort to negate the local advantage.