Olympic rower Mahe Drysdale was nearly reduced to tears when talking about the bust-up between his long-time coach Dick Tonks and Rowing New Zealand.
Tonks has coached Drysdale nine of the last 11 years in stints which have included multiple Olympic medals.
Drysdale said it wasn't an ideal situation to be in.
"When you're told you might lose who has made you successful it's not an easy thing to have happen," Drysdale said while fighting back tears.
Tonks cut ties with Rowing NZ after it questioned his training of a Chinese men's crew, while Rowing NZ boss Simon Peterson said he was blindsided by the 64-year-old's decision to bring Chinese rowers to Lake Karapiro.
Rowing NZ released a statement this afternoon saying they were happy with the progress made in discussions with Mahe Drysdale.
"Rowing NZ is keen to achieve an outcome as soon as possible."
"In the meantime Mahe and the Women’s double have agreed to continue to train with the NZ squad - we will provide our next update on Wednesday next week."
Tonks has helped New Zealand rowers to five Olympic gold medals, and is a five-time Halberg coach of the year.
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