KEY POINTS:
New Zealand's men have reached back in time in their final preparation for next week's world championships in Munich.
In 1972, New Zealand went to a secluded spot near the Austrian border in the town of Lenggries . There, they fine-tuned their campaign for the Munich Olympics.
The
rest is history - the eight won a famous gold medal; the coxless four, which included today's national head coach, Dick Tonks, won silver and an Olympic tradition was born.
And if there was a bit of magic to be gleaned from what happened in 1972, the current elite men's squad weren't about to miss out.
Since the final World Cup regatta at Lucerne last month, the men have been back at Lenggries, and the women's squad returned to familiar territory at Hazewinkel in Belgium.
Tonks was in Belgium, but coxless four coach Chris Nilsson was on familiar ground in Lenggries.
Nilsson was in the coxed four which finished sixth in their final 35 years ago and he was remembered by the local rowing fraternity.
As a result, rules were bent.
The lake had a rule about no motor boats, but that was circumvented.
"It is a beautiful place," coxless four bowman Carl Meyer told the Herald.
"It's got a good long lake, so we were able to get good kilometres in without having to turn round every couple of 'ks', and they really took us into their homes."
Munich doubles as the year's Olympic-qualifying regatta. Crews will be seeking to secure boats in Beijing, but not necessarily themselves.
Two years ago, New Zealand bagged four gold medals in a remarkable 45 minutes at Gifu, Japan.
Last year at Eton, Mahe Drysdale was the sole champion, making it two in two years, as the chasing pack caught up.
Next week promises to be hectic, but with a generous qualifying zone in most cases - several need only be in the top 11 - the issue will be not so much about confirming Beijing, as challenging for podium spots.
Among the most intriguing classes will be the coxless four, stroked by Hamish Bond, with Eric Murray, newcomer James Dallinger, who has come over from the coxed four last year, and Meyer.
Meyer, 27 on September 3, is the old stager. He's been in the crew since 2003.
Last year was forgettable. New Zealand dead-heated for third in their repechage with the United States, and lost a race-off 3 1/2 hours later.
They appealed against the photo finish decision, then unsuccessfully requested a seven-boat final.
But as Meyer put it, there's only one result which matters, and they came up short.
"Last year we were third and fifth in World Cups, then got ninth, so last year is forever remembered for that ninth," he said.
"There were a lot of other factors, but only one result counts.
"Qualifying is what you have to achieve next week, but we have standards ourselves."
Then there was 2003 when things were trucking along well until Drysdale got sick and the crew just scraped in, in 11th spot.
They began the European tour strongly, winning the Amsterdam World Cup regatta, then coming in third at Lucerne, behind the Dutch and ever-powerful British.
"The kneejerk reaction to Lucerne was 'bugger'," Meyer said.
"We'd let the Dutch go from being behind us to being in front, and now the British were there.
"But then you stand back and can say it's so close and the level's gone up and we're still in it.
"We might have taken the Dutch by surprise in Amsterdam.
"They've wised up to that, and the British ... I've been racing them so long and they've been out of sight out of mind.
"This time we're within firing distance."
Meyer likes the feel of the four this year. There is a harmony in their thinking and planning which hasn't always been there.
"The chemistry is right," he says.
As for their rivals, Meyer has his eye on five, but not the Chinese, who have been rocking the regattas this year as they pep up their campaign for rowing domination in Beijing next year.
Britain are always powerful in this event, going back to the days of Sir Steven Redgrave.
The Dutch, the Germans, who were second at Eton but have had injury and illness issues this year, and the Italians are sure to make it a gruelling event.
But that's what it's all about for a group of men who haven't had the limelight of some of their squadmates.
Next week could be their turn to stand tall on the biggest stage.
New Zealand will contest 11 events in Munich. All but the lightweight single scull are Olympic events.
Both eights have their work cut out.
Lightweight double Graham Oberlin-Brown and Peter Taylor need to have stepped up from earlier in the tour.
But there are also solid grounds to be optimistic about a strong return.
