By Xinhua,
Beijing : Georgina and Caroline Swindell are twin sisters known to almost everybody in their home country New Zealand for their excellent performances in rowing in the past decade. They will come to the Olympics with high expectations of adding to their kitty.
The sisters, born Oct 10, 1978 in Hastings, started rowing in 1994 and have snatched 10 medals altogether. They began to reap medals in 2001 and won the gold in the W2 race in the Athens Olympics with a timing of 07:01.79 seconds.
They also competed in the W4 class. They won the 2000m race in the Rowing World Cup’s third regatta in Poznan Malta of Poland in June of 2008 in 07:31.45 secs.
In November 2005, they were named Rowing Female Crew of the Year by the International Rowing Federation (FISA). In 2001, Caroline won silver at the World Championships in both the double and quadruple sculls. Together with her sister, she won gold at both the 2002 and 2003 Rowing World Championships in the double sculls.
New Zealand rowing selectors in early March named 12 rowers who secured berths for the Beijing Olympic Games in August, including the twin sisters.
The sisters will face a strong challenge to their rivals from Europe.
The first challenge comes from Britain. The British team won the silver medal in the W2 race in Athens, followed by Germany.