Junior rowing Prendergast started rowing for Villa Maria College in 2007 and, due to the school's affiliation, joined the Avon Rowing Club after she left school. In 2010, she was chosen for New Zealand's junior team and she competed with the junior women's four at the 2010 World Rowing Junior Championships in
Račice, Czech Republic, where they won gold;
Eve MacFarlane was part of the team. A
sweep rower, she cannot row
stroke side (also known as
port side) due to her
scoliosis. There was no international rowing for Prendergast in 2011. At the 2012
World Rowing U23 Championships in
Trakai, Lithuania, she came fourth in the four;
Georgia Perry was in the same boat. She was picked for the New Zealand elite team to compete in the eight. The 2013
World Rowing Cup I was held in
Sydney, Australia, where they came fifth. The team then travelled to World Rowing Cup III, which was held on the
Rotsee in Switzerland, where they came sixth. At the
2013 World Rowing Championships on the
Tangeum Lake in
Chungju, South Korea, they missed the A-final but came first in the B-final (seventh overall). During the trials for the national team selection shortly afterwards, she first teamed up with
Kerri Gowler in the coxless pair. They themselves were beaten by
Helen Glover and
Heather Stanning from Great Britain, then the reigning Olympic and (in Glover's case) world champions. Prendergast and Gowler then went to the 2014 World Rowing U23 Championships in
Varese, Italy, where they won gold with a massive 13-second lead over an American pair. Based on this performance, Rowing New Zealand formed a coxless four for the
2014 World Rowing Championships in
Amsterdam in the following month, where Gowler and Prendergast were joined by
Kayla Pratt and
Kelsey Bevan. They won the world championship title in a
world-best time. (left) and Prendergast after winning silver at the
2015 World Rowing Championships At the February 2015 New Zealand rowing championships, Prendergast competed in two premier boat classes and took out two national titles. She defended her title in the eight for a fifth year and also won gold in the coxless pair partnered with Kristen Froude. Internationally, she continued rowing with Gowler in the coxless pair. At the 2015 World Rowing Cup II in
Varese, Italy, they won bronze. At the World Rowing Cup III on the Rotsee, they won silver. At the same event, they both joined the women's eight and won another silver. The same approach was used at the
2015 World Rowing Championships in
Aiguebelette, France, where they won silver in both boat classes. At the February 2016 New Zealand rowing championships, Prendergast competed in three premier boat classes and won one national title. She lost her title in the eight as the boat came second. She was also second with the coxless four. Teamed up with
Emma Dyke, she retained her national title in the coxless pair. When the Olympic rowing team got announced in March 2016, it came as a big disappointment to Gowler and Prendergast that they were not picked for the
coxless pair (this was given to
Rebecca Scown and
Genevieve Behrent) Not picking world championship silver medallists was described by
The New Zealand Herald as demonstrating the "depth and competitiveness" of New Zealand's female squad in 2016. The eight squad went to the 2016 World Rowing Cups II and III in Switzerland and Poland in preparation for the Olympics, and they came third and first, respectively. At the August
2016 Rio Olympics they came fourth. At the 2017 New Zealand rowing nationals at Lake Ruataniwha, she once again partnered with Dyke in the premier women's pair and they retained their national championship. She also won national titles in the coxless four and the eight. As Behrent wanted to take 2017 off, Gowler and Prendergast were chosen for the coxless pair for international rowing in 2017. They dominated in the boat class and won gold at 2017 World Rowing Cups II and III, At the
2017 World Rowing Championships in
Sarasota, Florida, United States, they became world champions with a comfortable margin of nearly four seconds over a team from the United States. At the 2018 New Zealand rowing nationals at Lake Karapiro, she retained her national title with Dyke in the coxless pair and also won the coxless four. With the eight, she won silver. Continuing to row with Gowler internationally, they won the
2018 World Rowing Cups II and III, but were beaten by the Canadian team of
Caileigh Filmer and
Hillary Janssens at the
2018 World Rowing Championships in
Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Gowler and Prendergast were reconfirmed for the women's pair in April 2019. At the 2019 World Rowing Cup II in
Poznań, Poland, they won gold. At the World Rowing Cup III in
Rotterdam, Netherlands, they competed in both the eight (gold) and in the coxless pair (silver, beaten by the Australian team of
Jessica Morrison and
Annabelle McIntyre). At the 2020 New Zealand rowing nationals at Lake Karapiro, Prendergast competed in two boat classes. In the coxless pair with Dyke, she regained her national title. In the coxless four she came second. Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, there was no international rowing during 2020. Two weeks later at the 2021 New Zealand rowing nationals at Lake Ruataniwha, Prendergast competed in three boat classes. In the coxless four, the team did not finish the race. In the coxless pair (with Dyke) and the eight, she won national titles. When New Zealand's Olympic team was announced in June 2021, Prendergast and Gowler were confirmed to start with both the coxless pair and the eight. In November 2020, the
World Rowing Federation predicted that New Zealand and Australia are currently so dominant that their teams would compete in the eight for gold and silver, with the remaining nations fighting over bronze. Former Olympian
Sarah Cowley Ross, who will commentate from Tokyo for
TVNZ, expects the eight and the coxless pair to both get medals. Sports bookmaker
Pinnacle offers very low odds for the women's eight and the coxless pair to win gold. As of 9 July, for every dollar paid in, they would pay out $2.07 and $2.67 for the eight and the coxless pair winning gold, respectively. At the
Sea Forest Waterway in Tokyo, Prendergast and Gowler won their heat, They also won the heat in the eight, just three hours after their pair's heat. In the final, the New Zealand eight won silver behind Canada. In 2022, Prendergast rowed in the 7-seat of the Cambridge women's
eight in the
2022 Boat Race, a crew which went on to win in a record time of 18 minutes and 22 seconds. She announced her retirement from professional rowing on 27 October 2022. She last competed at the national championships in 2021. During her career, Prendergast won 15 premier Red Coats. ==Ranking, honours and awards==