O'Leary (17) relished the conditions on Lake Karapiro to win his heat in the men's under-20 single sculls in 7min 08sec. He was second-fastest in all the heats and will go straight to the semifinal.
''It was a personal-best time by three seconds and put me in a good frame of mind for the rest of the regatta,'' O'Leary told the Otago Daily Times from Lake Karapiro yesterday.
O'Leary also performed with credit in other events but will need to row the repechage today because only the winning crew in a heat goes straight through to the next round.
O'Leary finished second in his heat of the senior single sculls in 7min 22sec and club-mate Mark Alm was fourth in 7min 35sec. They combined and finished runner-up to Gisborne in the men's senior double sculls in 6min 52sec.
Alm is a Canadian who is doing an exchange year at the University of Otago.
''I'm getting used to rowing in New Zealand, where the overall standard is better than it is in Canada,'' he said.
''There are no easy races and the fields are stronger across the board.''
Women from the Otago club also had a good first day, with Emma Winders finishing third in the under-20 singles sculls in 8min 09sec and Anna O'Leary fourth in 8min 30sec.
The pair finished second in their heat of the club double sculls in 7min 26sec and had the second-fastest time in the heats.
The Otago University combination of Nicola Shanks and Anna Watson-Taylor were third in their heat in 7min 41sec.
