New Zealand shows winning speed in Munich World Cup regatta heats

Strong performances on the first day of the Munich World Cup regatta with seven wins from nine races indicating that New Zealand's top blades have lost none of their skill in small boats - with both the experienced athletes and the new combinations making a winning start to their 2009 international seasons.

Eric Murray and Hamish Bond - former world champions in the coxless four and now lined up in the pair - drew the harder heat of their field and faced the British flagship boat of Andrew Triggs-Hodge and Peter Reed, both gold medallists in Beijing. Neither crew will be showing their full hand at this stage, but the New Zealanders turned around a one second deficit at 500 metres to sit level with the Brits for the middle 1,000 metres before easing out to a win of just under a length. A season long battle between these two crews, which could also include a showdown at the Henley Royal Regatta could be one of the highlights of the international rowing season. Bond and Murray qualify directly for the final, and will have a central, favoured lane.

Double world champion Duncan Grant looked very good on his way to comfortable heat win in the fastest time by some margin, getting close to the benchmark seven minutes. He qualified for the semi final with ease and would expect to have more to come as the regatta progresses.

Rebecca Scown and Emma Feathery - another new combination in the women's pair - booked their place directly in the final with a great row, leading all the way apart from the first 500 metres and recording the fastest time of the field.

Matthew Trott and Nathan Cohen - reunited for this season in the double scull after making the world final in 2007 - made their presence felt in the second half of their heat, moving clear of Estonia and two crews from China to put their marker down for the semi finals of a field that will include the likes of Wells and Rowbotham from Great Britain. A good push through the third 500 metres, where they rated a crisp 35 strokes per minute, was enough give them a clear water advantage. They qualified just a second slower than the favoured British crew.

Anna Reymer and Paula Twining took the lead in the most competitive of the women's double sculls heats, taking an early lead and holding on until 1500 metres until Annabel Vernon and Olympic bronze medallist Anna Bebbington powered their way through to qualify directly for the final. Rumyana Neykova and Miglena Markova of Bulgaria took second close to the line, but the new combination from New Zealand will be confident they have good base speed from which to build on in the repechage.

Former Junior and Under-23 world champion Emma Twigg put on a dominant display in her heat, carving out a great lead early on in her race and cruising home comfortably. A five second lead at 500 metres was enough to see off her opposition and launch her into the semi finals.

Triple world champion and the holder of the world best time Mahé Drysdale was another to win his heat with ease, like Twigg taking an early lead and maintaining apace that his opponents simply could not live with. He qualifies directly for the semi final. Arch rivals Ondrej Synek, Alan Campbell and Olympic champion Olaf Tufte also looked strong in their heats. Like many of the other Kiwi racers, he was fastest overall, commenting: “While you can’t read too much into times from the heats I was overall fastest as well and being quickest at each of the marks - except the 1000m where Tufte was 0.67seconds quicker - was a good way to start.”

Storm Uru and Pete Taylor also looked good winning their first heat and again were right at the sharp end of the pace. The men’s lightweight four – another new combination and in its first international race in one of the most competitive events in rowing – finished fourth and will have to get through a competitive repechage to make the major final.

With the women’s quad – who finished third in an exhibition race today – and new adaptive sculler Robin Tinga still to come, World Cup 2 is promising much for the new look Kiwi rowing team.

More than 550 athletes from 37 nations have entered the regatta on the 1972 Olympic regatta course, the second of FISA's three round World Cup series that leads up to the World Championships in Poznan.

Picture shows: Emma Twigg, New Zealand’s top female single sculler, in a commanding lead in this morning’s heat of the women’s single sculls

Click here for Heat Results

Men

Single Scull - Mahé Drysdale (World Champion 2005, 2006, 2007)
Lightweight Single Scull - Duncan Grant (World Champion 2007, 2008)
Adaptive Single Scull - Robin Tinga
Double Scull - Matthew Trott, Nathan Cohen
Lightweight Double Scull - Storm Uru, Peter Taylor
Coxless Pair - Eric Murray, Hamish Bond
Lightweight four - Todd Petherick, James Lassche, Richard Beaumont, Graham
Oberlin-Brown


Women

Single Scull - Emma Twigg
Coxless Pair - Rebecca Scown, Emma Feathery
Double Scull - Paula Twining, Anna Reymer
Quadruple Scull - Harriet Austin, Sarah Barnes, Louise Trappitt, Genevieve
Armstrong