Andrew Potter and Thomas Jenkins are hoping there's no stipulation regarding what socks they must wear at the August under-19 world rowing championships in London.
"We've got these lucky socks we want to wear. They're not club or school socks ... just some cheap striped ones from Farmers.
"But we've done well every time we've had them on,"said Jenkins.
"Done well" is a huge understatement. The Hawke's Bay Rowing Club and Napier Boys' High School mates have exceeded all expectations with their selection in the New Zealand four for the Eton-hosted champs after just two summers of rowing.
They won the under-18 pairs title at the National Secondary Schools Maadi Cup regatta in March where they combined with Tom Thomas, Tom Nichol and cox Logan Herbert to win the under-17 coxed four title and finish second in the under-18 final.
Their under-18 pair time of 6m55s over the 2000m distance on Lake Karapiro is a national record.
Potter, 16, and Jenkins, 17, have taken the number of Hawke's Bay Rowing Club members selected for New Zealand teams this season to five, one better than the previous record of four. Another two could gain selection within the next fortnight.
The fact Potter had no previous sporting expertise of note adds more glory to their feat.
"I was a bit of a couch potato ... PlayStation was my closest thing to a sporting pursuit before rowing," said Potter.
Jenkins did mountainbiking for four years and once gained a fourth placing in the under-16 downhill nationals.
"I started doing rowing for fitness but then I couldn't get away from it."
"We've had two excellent coaches and we don't want to let them down," said Potter referring to Mike Trautvetter, who coached the pair when they were in the novice ranks, and their latest mentor Rohan Condon.
They will be joined by the Auckland Grammar pair of Adam Smith and Louis Van Velthoven in the Kiwi four that will be coached by Gary Roberts of Waikato. Their team have set a goal of a medal at the world championships where more than 50 countries will be represented.
"We've got to continue the Hawke's Bay tradition," said Jenkins referring to the fact their clubmates Giacomo Thomas and Julia Trautvetter returned home with medals from the 2009 and 2008 world junior champs respectively.
While they have been training 10 times a week for almost two hours since their selection, Potter and Jenkins know the intensity will increase when they join the rest of their crew permanently from May 15 at Lake Karapiro. This will allow them to train regularly with Roberts and continue their year 12 studies at St Peters College.
They will leave for London at the end of July to acclimatise before their August 3-7 championships. The course they will race on will be the same one which will be used at next year's London Olympics.
"Hopefully we can stay in the frame for an Olympic Games in the future," said Jenkins.
Lucky socks do it for rowers
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