Rowing: Edward aims for champs win

Julia Edward

A lot will go on the line when Rotorua rower Julia Edward slips into her boat for the World Rowing Championships in France.

Edward and partner Sophie MacKenzie will look to win back-to-back world titles on Lake Aiguebelette next week and qualify for the Rio Olympics.

While the task may seem daunting, Edward said they had prepared well for the women's lightweight double scull event and were trying not to overthink things. The pair have just finished a six-week training camp in Slovenia ahead of their first race at the world champs tomorrow night (NZT).

"This was our biggest and toughest block of training," Edward said. "Our training is quite similar to what we did this time last year. A big focus here in Slovenia has been our high-end speed."

The 24-year-old said their coach, Gary Hay, had been keeping an eye on just about every detail to get them ready to defend their world title.

"Gary works closely with our physiologist to ensure we are hitting the right speeds and the training is effective. He's always a step ahead so we never have anything to worry about."

Edward and MacKenzie have form on their side heading into the world champs, having won silver and gold at the last two World Cup events of the year.

They also set a world record time at the World Rowing Championships last year on their way to claiming gold in the lightweight double scull.

"We are in the position we want to be in at this stage. It's given us the confidence we need ... but we are also aware that our main competitors will step up and we're prepared for that."

The New Zealand pair's biggest rivals will likely be World Rowing Cup II winners Great Britain as well as Canada, South Africa and the United States.

Edward said to make the Olympics they needed to finish in the top 10 at the world champs. However, their main focus was to win outright.

"It's also the Olympic qualification regatta so we need to place in the top 10. We don't want that to be our focus for this regatta though. If we aim to win the rest will fall into place."

New Zealand will compete in all 14 Olympic boat classes at the world championships and could qualify all the boats into the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

Edward said everyone in the New Zealand squad had been performing well this year.

"Everyone placed really well at the last World Cup and are on track to qualify," she said.

"We all know what it's going to take to qualify and it's important for the team not to overthink it too much."

She said after the world champs she and MacKenzie would get the opportunity to visit the Olympic venue in Rio de Janeiro.

A record 1300 athletes from 77 nations are due to race at the rowing calendar's biggest event of the year, which starts tomorrow and runs until next Sunday.