The steps towards world domination continue for Rowing NZ. On an extraordinary day at the final World Cup of the season in Switzerland, New Zealand showed unprecedented supremacy across the breadth of disciplines, particularly in the Olympic classes.
The regatta at Lake Rotsee in Lucerne may end up remembered as the catalyst which took the sport into a new era.
New Zealand secured 11 medals. Five gold, three silver and one bronze came in Olympic class events. A gold and a bronze came in non-Olympic boats.
The triumphs came from Mahe Drysdale in the single sculls, Eric Murray and Hamish Bond in the men's pair, Zoe Stevenson and Eve Macfarlane in the women's double, Curtis Rapley, James Lassche, Alistair Bond and James Hunter in the men's lightweight four, and Sophie MacKenzie and Julia Edward in the women's lightweight double sculls.
The women's pair of Grace Prendergast and Kerri Gowler, men's quadruple scullers Jade Uru, George Bridgewater, John Storey and Karl Manson, and women's eight of Rebecca Scown, Genevieve Behrent, Gowler, Prendergast, Kelsey Bevan, Ruby Tew, Emma Dyke, Kayla Pratt and coxswain Frances Turner took silver.
The men's eight of Stephen Jones, Alex Robertson, Brook Kennedy, Jonathan Wright, Isaac Grainger, Shaun Kirkham, Michael Brake, Thomas Murray and coxswain Caleb Shepherd secured bronze.
Those efforts added to Zoe McBride's gold and Adam Ling's bronze in the non-Olympic lightweight single sculls on Saturday.
The performance of the eights, albeit with the United States and Russia absent, bodes well for Olympic qualification next month. It reinforces the board decision to invest in eights until the 2020 Olympics as a means of retaining top talent beyond the Maadi Cup.
"This is a major stepping stone," said women's stroke Rebecca Scown. "We're such an inexperienced crew so to win a heat and then take silver in the final is the most important thing we've done.
"I love sitting in the stroke position because I feel so confident in the group behind me. I just support the rhythm they create."
Drysdale produced the most convincing display, winning by 5.3s in a race he described as his "easiest ever World Cup win".
The 36-year-old's domination suggests he is a genuine favourite to defend his Olympic title.
"I couldn't quite believe it. I looked around at 500m and I was in front and feeling good. I thought 'today's my day'. No one put up too much of a battle really. It was a confidence boost going into the world championships."
Bond and Murray completed their 57th consecutive victory at a FISA-sanctioned regatta. It was close for the first 1000m before the old firm pulled away in their first international event this season to extend their legacy.
"We probably could've pushed a bit more in last 500m and opened the gap through the middle but sometimes when you're out in front it's easier to do what you're doing," Murray said.
"The legacy comes from everybody else. We never go out to defend anything, we never say 'we're the best, come and catch us"; we can't go in thinking 'oh, we beat them last time so should beat them this time'."
The lightweight four confirmed their dominance across two World Cups, despite being pipped by Denmark in the semi-finals. In the final they also overcame the Swiss crowd cheering on the locals who took silver.
"The fields are so compressed. It feels like about 10 countries are within a few boat lengths of each other," Lassche said. "But from 1000m out you could feel the momentum was with us, even though we were being pushed."
The lightweight double scullers had retribution in mind after losing their world best time to Britain at the last World Cup.
"We've had fire in our bellies," Edward said. "That gave us the confidence for today."
Earlier, Prendergast (23) and Gowler (21) earned silver, 2.65s behind British Olympic and world champions Heather Stanning and Helen Glover. The selectors' faith in the duo's fitness and tenacity was justified as they moonlighted in the eight.
"It's the first time we've done it [doubled up in the eight] so it's exciting," Prendergast said. "It helped that we avoided a repechage in the eight to conserve energy."
