Tokyo gold medallist Emma Twigg has begun the defence of her Olympic crown with a convincing heat win at Paris' Vaires sur Marne Nautical Stadium.
In her fourth Olympics, Twigg put consecutive fourth placings behind her three years ago to mount the top step of the medal podium, seemingly ending her career on a high note.
With a quick turnaround until Paris, she was convinced to return a fifth time and entered this regatta on the back of a silver medal at last year's world championships at Belgrade.
Contesting the third of six heats, Twigg, 37, eased clear of her rivals to clock the fifth-fastest time overall, qualifying automatically for the quarterfinals.
"It's all just routine now," Twigg told Sky Sport. "I've got it dialled in and I sat on the startline today thinking I've done this a million times, just going through those processes and trying to be relaxed about it.
"The first race is always a niggly one."
Lithuanian Viktorija Senkute is fastest with 7m 30.01s, almost five seconds clear of the Kiwi.
"We know who the hitters are, but there's also a field behind catching up, so there will be some interesting racing in the middle of the week. The semifinal will be a really big race, but I'm feeling good, I've done the preparation and I know what I'm capable of."
The opening day of competition held few perils for the Kiwi scullers, with Tom Mackintosh also taking out his singles heat, Brooke Francis and Lucy Spoors finishing fast to edge Great Britain in their double sculls preliminary, and Robbie Manson and Jordan Parry trailling the world champion Dutch in the men.
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