KEY POINTS:
A year ago Duncan Grant was a late entry into the lightweight men's singles, rewarding the selectors' faith with a surprise bronze medal.
Now he is fighting for a spot in the only lightweight Olympic crew, the doubles (there is no lightweight singles at the Olympics), with three
others who are equally desperate for one of two seats.
As it stands, with Peter Taylor and Graham Oberlin-Brown being selected for the two-man boat this European campaign, Grant is on the outside looking in.
The burgeoning strength of New Zealand's lightweight stocks is one of the most unexpected success stories of the year.
Grant will travel to Europe as a single but he'll have company there too, with under-23 medallist Storm Uru also selected as a single. Effectively the four scullers are undertaking a year-long trial for two spots.
"It looks good for next year," said Taylor, "you could say we've got the inside running."
But they won't be taking anything for granted.
High performance manager Andrew Matheson said selection for the double was still wide open and would not be decided until next year's trials, even if Taylor and Oberlin-Brown qualify the boat at this year's worlds in Munich.
There's a recent precedent for this too. Nathan Twaddle and Rob Hellstrom qualified the pair for Athens 2004 but in the intervening year a young George Bridgewater burst on to the scene with his long levers and won the seat off a devastated Hellstrom. (The Blenheim rower made his comeback to national colours last week with his selection in the No 5 seat in the eight).
Uru, probably fourth in the pecking order at the moment, sees this European campaign, his first as a senior, as a massive opportunity. He finished second to Grant in the lightweight at the recently completed nationals but has an opportunity to go to the worlds in the single if he can beat him at the two world cups beforehand.
Two crews from each country are allowed to enter world cup regattas, but only one can compete at the world champs.
"It's really close racing and it's been good all summer because we've been pushing each other. The testament to that will be when we go overseas. I think we're going to be right up there with the best lightweights in the world because we've been pushing each other so hard and we're all so close.
"Even though it's a bad situation that me and Duncan have missed out, it shows how tight the racing is because we're all world medallists at the moment.
"If you really want to make the double next year you've got to step up this winter."
Grant summed it up best: "Whatever combination we have at the Olympics, it's going to be a very fast boat."
