Aussie Sally eyes up Wanganui challenge

Glenn Watson | 18th November 2009

Aussie rower Sally Kehoe has being checking out Wanganui's outdoor pursuits ahead of her first visit to the city for the Prospace-sponsored Billy Webb Challenge event.

Queenslander Kehoe, a former world junior champion single sculler, will clash with New Zealand No 1 Emma Twigg in the women's race on Sunday week.

Kiwi world champ Mahe Drysdale will take on rising Belgian star Tim Maeyens in the men's event.

Kehoe told the Chronicle she's had her head buried in the Lonely Planet travel guide trying to discover what Wanganui had to offer "outdoorsy", apart from training on the river.

"I see you've got some kayaking there. I'm right into that. In fact I'm into anything adventurous."

Kehoe says she's looking forward to the race, especially after watching a videotape of the inaugural event last year.

"It looked pretty exciting. I've spoken to a number of the Kiwi rowers about it and they've been pumping it up."

Kehoe, 23, said the challenge will be a welcome distraction from the "long haul" of training before Christmas.

She and the other competitors - Twigg and Drysdale have been racing in Europe - will arrive in the city next Wednesday.

One of Kehoe's first tasks will be to check out the river layout.

In other Webb Challenge news:

national coach Dick Tonks will be the race commentator again;

The race will be streamed live on the race website billywebbchallenge.co.nz

Sky will provide delayed coverage of the event;

American network Universal Sports won't be screening the event this year after charging a hefty five-figure fee. Last year it beamed the race to millions across Asia, the US and Europe