Rowing: Shuffled crews keep one eye on Olympics

Men's double scull Joseph Sullivan (left) and Nathan Cohen from the high performance squad train at Lake Karapiro. Photo / Christine Cornege

New Zealand's three world champion crews remain intact but Rowing New Zealand has juggled its resources to fill the other seats for this year's European campaign.

Double scullers Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan and the two coxless pair combinations of Hamish Bond and Eric Murray, and Rebecca Scown and Juliette Haigh, look well settled for next year's Olympic Games in London.

But there have been substantial changes in the bronze medal-winning coxless four squad from November's world championships at Lake Karapiro, with two of the discipline's old boys, Carl Meyer and James Dallinger, returning after taking time out.

They team up with Ian Seymour and Tobias Wehr-Candler, out of the impressive eight, who made the A final on the strength of two rows together.

"It was an extremely tough week of trials and a quick reality check after some time out from the sport in 2010," Dallinger said.

"But it is great to be back with Carl, though, and this is a very exciting boat to be a part of."

Meyer and Dallinger were in the world champion 2007 coxless four crew with Bond and Murray. They were crushed by their failure to make the A final at the following year's Olympics in Beijing.

David Eade, Hamish Burson and Jade Uru switch from the four to the eight crew, while Simon Watson, who has had an injury-plagued run of late, drops to travelling reserve.

The men's quad has one change from the worlds, with the place of retired Nathan Twaddle going to Wairau's Steve Cottle.

Anna Reymer, who missed the worlds through injury, returns to team up with Fiona Paterson in the double scull and there's a change in the Olympic lightweight double crew - Julia Edward eases into the under-23 group and her place alongside Lucy Strack goes to Louise Ayling, who won the silver in the single scull at Karapiro.

The intensity will increase this year as it is an Olympic qualifying year. The world championships is the first qualifying regatta for the 14 Olympic events (eight men, six women).

The 11 top finishers in Bled in seven men's events - single and double scull, pair, four, quad, lightweight double scull and four - secure places for their country. The top seven do likewise in the eight.

The numbers are tighter for the women.

It is the top nine for the single scull, eight for the pair and double and lightweight double scull, seven for the quad and five for the eight.

Europe-bound

* The elite New Zealand squad has been split in two for trips to compete in Europe.

* Twelve men and seven women comprise the first group, who will contest two World Cup regattas, at Hamburg from June 17-19 and Lucerne from July 8-10, and the world champs in Bled, Slovenia from August 28-September 4.

* Fourteen men and four women will take part in the Lucerne and world champs regattas and adaptive world silver medallist Danny McBride will compete only at the world champs.

* New Zealand is sending a squad of 24 to the world under-23 championships in Amsterdam from July 21-24.