Ferguson advanced to tomorrow's K1 500m semifinals with a solid fourth-placed heat performance yesterday although he was eclipsed by Canadian Adam van Koeverden, who blitzed his own world best time with a one minute 35.554 seconds paddle.
Ferguson was to contest the K2 1000m semifinal as well today with Mike Walker.
Top three finishes in both semis will see the 28-year-old advance to the finals, meaning he will have competed in a race every day of the six-day regatta.
It was a workload he was comfortable with, believing his form and fitness are the best they have been.
And he is quietly blessing the fact that K2 crewmate Mike Walker doesn't have any other commitments.
In 2004 Ferguson teamed with Ben Fouhy in the K2 but Fouhy was always distracted by his K1 1000m campaign, in which he ultimately bagged silver.
Fouhy had an hour after his K1 final to attend the medal ceremony and then jump in the K2 with Ferguson for their final, in which they struggled to eighth place.
"It's quite good for me knowing that Mike's going to be fresh," Ferguson told NZPA.
"Me and Mike are able to focus on one event rather than Ben having to back up and do another one.
"In that regard, we're able to focus on that event on one day and put all our eggs into that one basket."
Walker can't direct the same accusation at Ferguson this week as his events are on alternate days.
Ferguson's K1 500m experience at Athens was an embarrassing one.
Strugglng with a back injury, management asked him to default his heat as the K2 was regarded as the better medal prospect.
Needing to deliberately finish last in his seven-man heat to avoid advancing, an embarrassed Ferguson practically slowed to a crawl to finish behind a sluggish paddler from the Seychelles.
It is a distant memory for the blond-haired paddler, who rates himself a strong contender assuming he qualifies for Saturday's final.
He finished fourth in the most recent World Cup regatta at Poland behind the three of the big names in the singles ranks -- van Koeverden, Briton Tim Brabants and Australian Ken Wallace.
"I was within half a second of those guys and I believe I've gone faster since Poland so I'm right there with the top guys in the world," he said.
That wasn't the case yesterday when he was the eighth-fastest of 29, although Ferguson put it down to technical problems.
"Having Adam take off, I tied up a little bit. I didn't relax enough, I used too much arm," he said.
"I still came home pretty strong. To only be a second off my best and feel so so, I'm pretty happy with it."
Erin Taylor, 21, made a nervous start to her Olympic debut, finishing sixth in the fastest women's K1 500m heat but it was enough to reach the semis where she was confident of better.
"I just wanted to get a gauge of where I was at. I was pretty nervous but I always get nervous before I race," she said.
"I think I handled it all right. I'm not too downcast, I know I can do better in the semis."
