Rowing: Kiwis are all smiles on 'our water'

New Zealand's Louise Ayling races to victory in the second heat of the women's lightweight single sculls yesterday on Lake Karapiro. Photo / Christine Cornege

So exactly how much is home advantage worth to New Zealand at the world rowing championships?

Plenty, at least on yesterday's showing, when on a busy day 10 of the 15 home crews recorded wins. Six are already into finals; seven through to semifinals.

The two eights are the only New Zealand crews in action today, the last of the squad to have dipped their oars in the water with intent at the regatta.

Certainly yesterday was immensely satisfying for the New Zealand camp, but without getting too carried away.

The business end of the championships is a few days away, and tougher challenges lie ahead.

But the key to yesterday - as it was for the strong British squad - was laying down a marker.

It doesn't guarantee anything in terms of medals, but it does suggest New Zealand are in good shape.

What's more there's a strong feeling of satisfaction within the squad that the campaign started in top fashion.

"It's an awesome way to start," four-time world single sculling champion Mahe Drysdale said yesterday. "Most of the crews are straight into semis or finals, that's exactly where we want to be."

The more phlegmatic among the New Zealand team officials might privately figure that the results were about what was expected. They, after all, know better than any outsiders what their athletes are capable of.

Even so, as Peter Taylor, lightweight double sculling world champion with Storm Uru and a heat winner yesterday, put it: "Everyone is really positive and optimistic, which is really good and gives you confidence for the rest of the week."

There were a mix of aspects in play through the New Zealand performances yesterday.

Take Drysdale. He's had a disrupted preparation due to a frustrating back problem, so while his heat win was expected, it ticks another box in his bid to be ready for Saturday's final.

Then there were the men's coxless four, stroke David Eade, Hamish Burson, Jade Uru and Simon Watson, who produced a cracking effort to advance straight to their final, beating the United States and Australia with a sizzling final 500m.

They qualified fastest for their final, fractionally ahead of Olympic champions and defending world titleholders Britain, who won the other heat.

"That was awesome. It was my first international race in 14 months so I'm really happy with that," said Watson.

He missed the World Cup campaign earlier in the year after a hip operation in April and may have wondered if he'd even be racing this week. He said it was "a dream to be here".

Watson may also have spoken for the wider New Zealand group when he described his crew being "a bit pumped when we got over the finish line. We let them all know this is our water."

Then there was Louise Ayling, competing for the first time at elite level for her country.

She overcame any lingering nerves to win her heat in the lightweight single scull in the non-Olympic event to march into Sunday's final.

Those still with work to do out of repechages are double scullers Fiona Paterson and Emma Feathery and the men's and women's quads.

Britain also scooped up 10 wins yesterday, getting eight crews into finals and seven into semifinals.

Germany, by contrast, would have expected more yesterday than just two wins - the same number achieved by the Czech Republic, Canada, France, Ukraine and Australia. Eleven other countries had one win apiece.

The other people with smiles to match the New Zealanders and British yesterday were championship officials, who got their programme back on track, after a wind-disrupted opening day on Sunday.

DAY TO SAVOUR

* Ten of New Zealand's 15 crews yesterday won their races.
* Six of the total 18 crews have progressed straight to finals: the lightweight men's coxless pair, the coxless four, the women's lightweight single scull, the women's coxless pair, the women's coxless four - who were guaranteed a final spot on number of entries - and adaptive single sculler Daniel McBride.
* Seven New Zealand crews are into semifinals, three face repechages and both eights start their campaign today.
* Forty-three races were run yesterday as good weather enabled organisers to catch up all lost ground from the opening day.