Both New Zealand crews advanced to the next stage of racing on day one of the World Rowing Championships in Shanghai, China, yesterday.
The men’s pair qualified for the semifinals while the women’s quadruple sculls are into the A final.
Ben Taylor and Oliver Welch celebrated with a quiet fist bump after winning heat four of the pair.
"That’s our PB in the pair this season," Taylor said.
"We had a 6min 17sec at world cup one [in June], so pretty happy.
Oli said to me, ‘Hey, we’ve got a 6.16.’ So that was just a little response."
Even better news awaited them when they got off the water, as they had recorded the fastest heat time overall.
"It definitely gives us confidence," Taylor said.
"But at the same time, I think Oli and I just kind of stay in our own process. We don’t really want to be looking at everyone else ... we’re not really too fussed by other times."
Taylor and Welch will race in the semifinals tomorrow.
Veronica Wall, Stella Clayton-Greene, Kathryn Glen and Ella Cossill started conservatively in heat two of the women’s quad, going through the first 500m in fourth behind Germany, the Netherlands and Poland.
"We didn’t really settle into race pace," Cossill said.
"We just kept it ticking along, and that really solidified our legs and got us moving in that middle 1000, just chipping away.
"We could feel ourselves inching back on those leading boats, which was really satisfying."
The New Zealanders went through the 1500m in third, just a length behind the leading Dutch crew, then Germany.
The final 500m was a satisfying end to the race for Cossill.
"We didn’t really have a big wind, so we’ve got that in our back pocket for the final."
The Netherlands won in 6min 13.02sec, Germany crossed in 6min 14.13sec and New Zealand qualified for the A final on Thursday in 6min 16.96sec, one of the two fastest times after the automatic qualifiers from the two heats.
It was a great debut at elite international level for stroke Veronica Wall, Cossill said.
"She did a great job. She said that was the easiest she’d found stroking in any of the pieces that we’ve done.
"I think we all just sat back a little bit and let her do what she needed to do, and she found that as easy as a race can be. There was no worry that she was going to get rattled. She’s a racer."
— Allied Media
