Kiwi rowers' winning streak
13 Jul 2010
New Zealand is in a proud position in the lead up to the world rowing championships at Lake Karapiro this October - after major success at the World Cup regatta in Lucerne.
An outstanding final day saw New Zealand take three gold, one silver and two bronze medals.
Nine Kiwi rowing crews attended the event in Switzerland.
Four-time world champion Mahé Drysdale capped a great return to the sport after a four-month break with a back injury, to win bronze in the men's single sculls.
Women's pair Rebecca Scown and Juliette Haigh, men's pair Hamish Bond and Eric Murray, and the lightweight double scull of Peter Taylor and Storm Uru all won gold.
The two pairs and the light double were also crowned World Cup winners after great seasons, with the two pairs unbeaten in all international racing.
The men's 'A' four won silver, and the heavyweight men's double scull of Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan narrowly missed second place to take the bronze medal.
Mahé Drysdale
Mahé Drysdale, who’d missed much of his pre-season training through injury, was just a fraction down on Ondrej Synek and Alan Campbell, and his fighting performance showed he was back on track in preparation for the world championships in New Zealand.
Drysdale beat Olympic champion Olaf Tufte in the process and was never out of the race, looking strong in the dash for the line.
Scown and Haigh
The women’s pair of Scown and Haigh delivered another dominant win for the Kiwis, overcoming round one winners Canada in an impressive display of technical, smooth rowing.
Striking 38 strokes per minute throughout the race, they rowed away from the field to establish a clear water lead which nobody ever looked like challenging.
Murray and Bond
Moments later world champions Eric Murray and Hamish Bond were away from the start, and immediately in a fight with the fast-starting Greeks and - for the 10th time - their British arch rivals, Andrew Triggs Hodge and Peter Reed.
With similar semi-final times, the Kiwis knew they had to raise the bar, and they rowed the best race of their season to move through the field and take a commanding lead in the second 500 metres.
The pair - unbeaten for two seasons now - claim they can find even more speed in the build up to Karapiro.
Taylor and Uru
Next up in a golden hour for New Zealand rowing were the lightweight double scull world champions Peter Taylor and Storm Uru.
After their second place in Munich and a week or two of speed work, they were confident they could put up a strong fight against Olympic champions Great Britain.
But in reality the British challenge didn’t materialise and instead it became a race against the powerful Canadians.
Taylor and Uru maintained their effective pace as the Canadians tired and through the final 500 metres took a clear water lead, romping home a good distance ahead.
"This was a great way to set ourselves up for Karapiro and we still feel there are lots of areas we can improve," said Taylor. "It's been great to be part of a very big day for the team as well."
Coxless fours
New Zealand had two crews in the final of the men's coxless fours.
The ‘B’ boat of Ben Hammond, Ian Seymour, Chris Harris and Tyson Williams had a conservative start and could not make up the lost ground at the finish leaving the ‘A’ crew of David Eade, Hamish Burson, Jade Uru and Sean O'Neill to take the fight to the British Olympic champions and a French crew.
As the crews all surged across the line just a few seconds apart, Britain took the gold, with the New Zealand ‘A’ crew second, the French third and the ‘B’ crew fourth.
Double skulls
The men's heavyweight double scull of Joseph Sullivan and Nathan Cohen put a disappointing regatta in Munich behind them and were right at the sharp end of the field throughout the final in Lucerne to secure a solid third place.
The women's quad also completed a solid world cup effort with a sixth place finish in the main final.
2010 World Rowing Championships
New Zealand’s elite rowers now have three months to prepare for the world championship event on their home territory.
They will train in Australia while organisers prepare Lake Karapiro for the influx of athletes, officials and spectators due from 31 October - 7 November.
Rowing chief executive Simon Peterson says the Kiwi team will train on Penrith Lakes in Australia from 29 September - 17 October.
"Logistically this is the best option because a lot of the time Lake Karapiro will be closed for on-water preparation. A 10,000-seat grandstand also needs to be built and we will be receiving a lot of the overseas boats at that point too," said Peterson.
Detailed planning for the 2010 World Rowing Championships at Lake Karapiro has been on-going for three years, and there have been significant changes to the infrastructure to ensure the success of the event.
It’s the second time the world championships have been held at the site - the last was in 1978 which is still considered one of the most important in the sport’s history.
Lake Karapiro has a reputation as one of the finest, fairest and most picturesque rowing venues in the world. The area is also steeped in Māori history.
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