New Zealand rowers made their mark on day two of the World Rowing Cup III in Poznan, Poland today claiming their first gold medal and booking eight more A final spots.
Lake Malta welcomed calmer conditions for the world's elite rowers in the final regatta before the Rio 2016 Olympic Games after yesterday's thunderstorms and high winds.
New Zealand rowers were competing in 10 events over the course of the day, with repechage and semi-final racing following on from yesterday's heats as well the A final in the lightweight women's single sculls.
World Champion and world best time holder Zoe McBride claimed the first gold for New Zealand in the lightweight women's single sculls. After making easy work of her semi-final she set a blistering place in the A final taking the lead by one length at the 500m mark and extending this to two lengths by the 1000m mark. She claimed gold in a time of 7:31.32. Marieke Keijser of the Netherlands made an impression in her first year out of the under-23 age group with a late surge to close the gap and claim silver in a time of 7:32.38. European Championship silver medallist Emma Fredh of Sweden finalised the top three to claim bronze with 7:37.52
The reserve women's pair duo of Olivia Loe and Holly Greenslade made an impressive charge in their repechage, moving from fifth to second and outsprinting local favourites Anna and Maria Wierzbowska to book a ticket to the A final along with winners Madalina Beres and Laura Oprea of Romania. They will meet fellow teammates Rebecca Scown and Genevieve Behrent, who won their heat yesterday and progressed directly to the final.
Hamish Bond and Eric Murray continued their unbroken streak in the semi-final of the men's pair, winning with a comfortable margin. Reserve pair Axel Dickinson and Drikus Conradie fought a tough battle with Great Britain, Italy and Germany, but were unable to find the boat speed needed and crossed the line in fourth place, progressing to the B final.
World Champions Eve Macfarlane and Zoe Stevenson started their women's double sculls race conservatively but worked their way from fifth to first and dug deep for a final push for the line, outsprinting Great Britain's Victoria Thornley and Katherine Grainer and claiming victory by a margin just under 0.4 seconds. The two crews will progress to Sunday's A final.
World Rowing Cup III silver medallists Robbie Manson and Chris Harris raced bowball to bowball up the course with the French crew of Hugo Boucheron and Matthew Androdias, but found the extra speed needed to take the win and move through to the A final. Great Britain's Jonathan Walton and John Collins claimed the final berth in the A final with third.
2014 World Champion Emma Twigg showed her class in the women's single sculls semi-final, dominating from beginning to end. Fie Udby Erichson of Denmark claimed second while Jeannie Gmelin of Switzerland claimed third and the remaining A final place. Meanwhile reserve Lucy Spoors faced a tough semi-final with World Champion Kimberly Brennan of Australia as well as Ekatarina Karsten of Belarus, needing a top three finish to progress to the A final. Spoors was unable to match the pace, finishing in fifth place. Kimberley Brennan took a convincing win, with Magdalena Lobnig of Austria and Lisa Scheenaard of the Netherlands making up the final two places in the A final.
Olympic Champion Mahe Drysdale faced a tough challenge from European Champion Damir Martin of Croatia, who held the lead down the whole course and crossed the line just over a second ahead of Drysdale. Reserve John Storey claimed third after a tight race with Britain's Jack Beaumont. Both New Zealand boats will race the A final.
Double World Champion lightweight double scullers Sophie Mackenzie and Julia Edward were looking for retribution after catching a crab and finishing last in a disastrous heat during yesterday's racing. Needing a top-two finish to progress to the A final they faced a fast start from Denmark's Anne Lolk Thomson and Juliane Rasmussen but had moved into the lead by the 1000m mark by a canvas. The Danes then put in a charge and rowed through the New Zealanders in the last 500m to win one second ahead of Mackenzie and Edward, while the Netherland's Amber Kraak and Anne Marie Schonk finished out of A final contention in third.
The women's and men's eight got a chance to race after their exhibition race was cancelled due to weather on day one. The women's event saw a close race between just three crews of the Netherlands, New Zealand and Great Britain. Great Britain claimed victory, with New Zealand a close second, and the Netherlands in third. Five boats contested the men's event with Germany dominating, New Zealand second and Great Britain a close third.
Sunday sees the final day of racing with Olympic boat class finals. Live coverage of finals will be available on SKY TV New Zealand on SKY Sport 5, Sunday 19 June 2016 at 8pm.
Regatta information, live race tracker, results and the full entry list can be found on worldrowing.com