Rowing: Edward opens season with silver

ON THE PODIUM: Rotorua's world champion Julia Edward has picked up a silver medal at her first international event of the year. PHOTO/BEN FRASER

Rotorua's Julia Edward and rowing partner Sophie MacKenzie have picked up a silver medal at the second world cup regatta of the year in Italy.

The New Zealand rowing team picked up a haul of medals at the weekend, winning four gold, one silver and a bronze medal.

The New Zealand lightweight women's double sculls combination of Edward and MacKenzie - who won gold at the world champs last year - got their bowball in front of Great Britain going through the halfway point of their A final.

However, the British duo rebounded making the final five strokes of the race count. The European champions Katherine Copeland and Charlotte Taylor just snatched the gold in a time of 6:53.78, less than half a second in front of the Kiwis, with Germany finishing third.

New Zealand had 10 crews feature in the A finals at the weekend.

The four gold medal efforts went to Zoe McBride in the international (non-Olympic) women's lightweight single scull event, the New Zealand men's lightweight four (Curtis Rapley, James Lassche, Alistair Bond and James Hunter), Zoe Stevenson and Eve MacFarlane in the women's double scull, and Olympic champion Mahe Drysdale won the men's single scull event.

A total of 42 countries were represented in the regatta in Varese, Italy. New Zealand entered 15 boat classes, finishing second on the medal tally behind Great Britain who won five golds, a silver and four bronze.

The full New Zealand rowing squad will now focus their attention on preparing for the third and final world cup event of 2015 to be held in Lucerne, Switzerland from July 10-12.

The major event on the world rowing calendar is the world championships to be hosted in Aiguebelette, France from August 30 for seven days. The world championships also double as the major qualifying regatta for the 2016 Rio Olympics.