Lesley Milne Speech on receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award - June 26

Rowing pioneer, administrator and volunteer and Past President of the Legion of Rowers, Lesley Milne has been awarded the prestigious 2026 Sir Eion and Jan, Lady Edgar Lifetime Achievement Award from New Zealand Sport and Recreation.

Here is her speech...

Thank you Rowing NZ  for this most unexpected and humbling honour- thank you Sport NZ for this wonderful evening and everyone for your ovation.

This honour has come quite out of the blue for me and has completely bowled me over.

The first thing I thought of when I received this news was “Why me?

This got me thinking back at my key moments in sport, and I kept coming back to the same thing ‘ He tangata, He tangata, he tangata – it’s really all about the people, the people who keep you anchored in the sport for so long.

I always count myself as being lucky. Right at the outset of my rowing journey sixty years ago, I was fortunate to have been introduced to some ‘stroppy’ rowing women. When women’s rowing was frowned upon, these women were starting to push the boundaries. They had formed the NZ Women’s Rowing Association to get things started– here’s to them! Thanks to my friend and fellow rowing partner, Paula Storey who was secretary, thank you Paula for for the part you played in getting women’s rowing to the top in those early years.

Special thanks to my husband, Roger, for the support you have given me – for being my sounding board and always being there for me.

I’d like to thank The Auckland Rowing Club, all my coaches, and particularly all the men in those early days who believed that women could reach the heights in the sport.

To me this award will always represent the journey that women’s rowing has been on – all the ‘firsts’, the many milestones, the dedication and determination that women have shown to get to the top – now international rowing umpires, having babies and winning gold medals at the Olympics! Who knew?!! Wow! We’re certainly helping to keep up our tradition of being NZ’s most successful Olympic Sport!

Apparently, Confucius said “Old age, believe me, is a good and pleasant thing. It is true that you are gently shouldered off the stage, but then you are given such a comfortable front stall as a spectator”.

Thank you again Sport NZ for this huge honour and Rowing NZ for this prestigious award – I’ll treasure it always and I’ll be watching from my front row seat!