Rowing: Pair in world record debut

Julia Edward and Louise Ayling. Photo / Rowing NZ

World record times aren't really that important in rowing, given the different conditions on different rivers, but it was a significant achievement for Julia Edward and Louise Ayling who have emerged as dark horses for an Olympic medal in the women's lightweight double sculls.

What made their world record even more meritorious was the fact it was the first time Edward and Ayling had raced together in an international regatta, after teaming up full-time for the last three months.

It is only the third world record held by a New Zealand crew. Five-time world champion Mahe Drysdale holds the world record in the men's single sculls and Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell hold the women's double sculls time.

It was a day for records at the World Cup regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland, with seven falling on day one when crews took advantage of a tail wind on the Rotsee. Edward and Ayling's time of 6m 49.43s was 0.3s faster than the previous record held by the Chinese crew of Shimin Yan and Dongxiang Xu set in 2006. They were also marginally quicker than the world champion Greek crew who also eclipsed the old mark.

Edward finished sixth in the lightweight double at the 2010 world championships with Lucy Strack. Ayling also finished sixth with Strack at the 2011 world championships.

But pairing Edward and Ayling, a 2010 world championships silver medallist in the lightweight single sculls, is clearly working and other crews will now be wary of the threat they pose at the Olympics. They had previously not been seen as much of a chance in London.

"It's definitely going to be a very special, memorable place for us now," Ayling said of Lucerne. "It's great. The last world record was in 2006 in Eton so hopefully we can hold on to it for as long as possible.

"We are really happy with how we raced and how we came out of the blocks. It was pretty hard for us because it was the unknown. We hadn't raced anyone before in this new combination.

"Whether it was a world record time or not, we are just happy with our performance - the world record is a bonus. We are definitely thinking about the final now. This is just one step and there's an even bigger job to come."

It was a good day for the New Zealand rowers, with all crews progressing to A finals, semifinals or quarter-finals. They all finished inside the top three in their heats.

Hamish Bond and Eric Murray (men's pair), Juliette Haigh and Rebecca Scown (women's pair), Drysdale (men's single sculls) and Storm Uru and Peter Taylor (men's lightweight double sculls) all won their heats. Five crews progressed directly to the final.

The row of the day came from the Great Britain men's four which included Andrew Triggs Hodge and Peter Reed, who recently switched from the men's pair after giving up on their quest to beat Bond and Murray. The British boat clocked a world's best time of 5m 37.86s to smash the existing record set by Germany by nearly four seconds, making them Olympic favourites. The Kiwi crew of Jade Uru, Chris Harris, Tyson Williams and Sean O'Neill finished second, nearly eight seconds behind.