'Kiwi scullers remain on track for rowing medals at the Paris Olympics, with all four crews — two singles and two doubles — moving a step closer to their dreams.
Our women loom as our best prospects, with defending single champion Emma Twigg advancing through quarterfinals as fastest qualifier for the semis, while Brooke Francis and Lucy Spoors have also paced the double sculls field into their final at Vaires sur Marne Nautical Stadium.
In her fifth Games, Twigg, 37, had to turn back a determined challenge from Swiss Aurelia-Maxima Janzen — 20 years her junior — which spurred her to victory in 7m 26.89s, faster than her main rivals, Aussie Tara Rugby and Dutch two-time world champion Karolein Florijn, who was next quickest more than two seconds back.
"I always like a race, because you feel better after a proper blowout," Twigg told Sky Sport. "I knew there would be a race behind me, which is exactly how it unfolded, so I wanted to keep the powder dry until the last 1000 to make sure it was under control.
"I felt really good out there today, much nicer than the heats - that's a positive. It's a long week and four races is a lot to get through, so you want to do what's necessary and rest up for the next two."
Twigg warns that semis can be just as cut-throat as finals and she's wary of taking too much for granted too early, despite her encouraging form.
"I'll always try to race my race," she said. "I know what the others do, but the semifinals are the finals in a situation like this.
"A lot of girls really want it, so you have to be on your toes."
Francis won silver at Tokyo 2020 and remains on track to repeat her podium here with new partner Lucy Spoors, who also scored silver in the eights previously.
They won the opening semi in 6m 49.49s, taking the lead before halfway and controlling the race from there. They were faster than defending champions Ancuta Bodnar and Simona Radis, who have to sprint hard to win the second semi two seconds slower.
The Kiwi men had to work a little harder for their progress, but neither were in much danger of missing out. Tom Mackintosh stamped his mark on the opening singles race, leading from the start, and was quicker than two of the other three contests.
By contrast, his 6m 48.01s would not have stacked up in the second heat, where German Ollie Zeidler was almost three seconds faster in victory and American Jacob Plihal could not reach the semis with 6m 47.03s in fourth.
"As my Pop would say, it's really finals footy now, so in these quarterfinals and semis, there's always something on the line," said Mackintosh. "Happy with my performance that I could come home with a win and lock myself, but the minute someone in fourth place is pushing up on the field, the race really steps on.
"You do train for your semifinal to be the final and then the final can be anyone's game. In two days' time, that will be a race to watch and everyone will step on again.
"This is the Olympics and there will be some fierce racing out there."
In the doubles, Robbie Manson and Jordan Parry lagged off the pace of much of the distance, but finished faster than anyone over the final 500 metres, briefly holding second, before settling for third.
The other semi saw Croatia lead most of the journey, before one of their rowers tired and stopped stroking altogether with the finishline in sight, eventually finishing out of the qualifying spots.
All four NZ boats will be back on the water on Friday (NZ time) for their respective finals and semis.
SHARE ME