Playmakers abroad keep Bay on world map | Hawkes Bay Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Hawkes Bay

Hawke's Bay sportspeople are movers and shakers regardless of how far they may stray from home.

Here are some of them who have been in the thick of the action recently:

Rowing

London-based Hawke's Bay rower Keren Ward has now won three national gold medals in just as many countries.

The former Karamu High School pupil won gold last weekend at the 2009 National Rowing Championships of Great Britain as part of the City of Oxford Rowing Club coxed four team.

The ex-Hawke's Bay Rowing Club member previously won gold in New Zealand while studying at Waikato University, Hamilton. In May this year her Oxford club crew won gold at the 32nd International Belgian Rowing Championship in Ghent, Belgium.

The 27-year-old from Havelock North is a process engineer for McCormicks UK Ltd, living and working in London for the past two years. Her sister, Melanie, 30, is a schoolteacher there and she is a member of the eights crew at Oxford's biggest (250-member) club based along the Thames River.

At the National Water Sports Centre at Holme Pierrepont, in Nottingham, last Sunday, Keren Ward's coxed fours crew won by 4.79 seconds (1 3/4 boat lengths), putting behind their disappointment of a silver medal last year.

A second City of Oxford Rowing Club crew won bronze in the same race.

Rugby

Napier Old Boys' Marist stalwart Brent Clements flew out of the country today for England where he will be coaching youngsters for six weeks.

The 52-year-old, who plays fourth division rugby and social cricket, said last night he would miss son Ross' 50th premier grade blazer match tomorrow against Central Hawke's Bay at Park Island, Napier.

Brent Clements, in his 25 consecutive years playing for NOBM rugby since he moved to the Bay, has also refereed and coached children's rugby for the past 15 years.

In the five-day camp in London, the Bay prison officer will be coaching in Greater London alongside counterparts from South Africa, Australia and Fiji. Hastings Rugby and Sport stalwart Adam MacDonald, who did a similar stint in London, set him up for the stint where families billet them and all costs are met.

"It's like a summer camp and we just run them through their basic skills. I did that last year too," said Clements who was SportToday's correspondent during the 2007 World Cup in France.

Skiing

Central Hawke's Bay skier Piera Hudson has nailed two gold medals and two scholarships in the space of three days this week.

The Woodford House pupil won gold at Treble Cone in the 2009 Mapei Giant Slalom race as a first year K2 competitor (fastest girl of the day). Consequently she was awarded the 2009 Snow Vision Scholarship for her outstanding ski racing during the Whistler Cup series in British Columbia, Canada, this year and that the code saw her as a future Olympian.

Last week she won the 2009 Hawke's Bay AMP Scholarship. Prime Minister John Key will present the National AMP scholarships in Auckland next month.

On Tuesday, Hudson won gold at Coronet Peak which was the first of six interfield races held at Coronet Peak, Treble Cone, Round Hill, Dobson, Remarkables and Cardrona.

The three-day 2009 National Youth Cup series begins today where Hudson will catch the eye of national selectors picking the New Zealand Junior team to compete at events in Slovenia, Italy and Canada.

It involves Super G (from the top of the mountain to the bottom on super long skis going at speeds of 95km), slalom and giant slalom.

Surf lifesaving

Hawke's Bay pair Daniel Moodie and Nikki Cox, of the Westshore club, are in the mix of the national team competing at the World Games in Taiwan.

The Kiwis are sitting in fifth place after a tough opening day overnight. Their highlights included a bronze medal in the 4 x 25m obstacles relay, with Glenn Anderson, John Gatfield, Mike Janes and Steven Kent finishing behind the Italian and German teams.

Kent also finished fourth in his 200m obstacles final and was fifth in the 50m manikin carry final, which helped New Zealand's team tally to 125.5 after the first of two days in the Kaohsiung Municipal Pool complex.

Swimming

Swimmer Blair Withington is back home from the United States where he is studying.

The former Hastings Boys' High School pupil is a psychology major at Kenyon College, in Ohio, becoming a senior in the division three champion swimming team when he returns next month.

"I had a good season and I was extremely happy with my first semester," he said of his college team who are dubbed "the Lords".

Withington was the fastest division three swimmer in the US this year in the 100m freestyle event as his 4 x 100m relay team posted a record time of 44.53sec. He finished third in 200 individual medley at the nationals and a disappointing eighth in the 100m freestyle.

"It was disappointing because I was too concerned about the people around me," he lamented.

He now hopes to return in March next year and renew his ties with former Sundevils coach Jon Winter and fellow Olympian William Benson in his bid to secure a spot in the New Zealand team for the 2010 Dehli Games.

"It's definitely on my mind every time I get into the pool," he said.