KEY POINTS:
The blue ribbon event of the domestic rowing calendar ended yesterday but the hard work is just beginning for the country's elite rowers.
Those trying to make squads for the three World Cup events in June and July - in Austria, the Netherlands and Switzerland - and the
August world championships in Munich, will be put through a gruelling five-day trial starting with ergonomic machine tests on Friday.
Triallists move on to the water from Saturday to Wednesday for a series of timed events and races.
Rowing New Zealand head of high performance Andrew Matheson said selectors would be looking closely at how the elite rowers backed up from the national championships.
They will also be looking closely at rowing's newest star, double sculls winner Nathan Cohen, and how he might fit into the power-packed senior men's programme.
Cohen has dreams of being a world champion single sculler but current king of the class Mahe Drysdale showed he was still No 1 yesterday.
With only one crew from each country allowed in each class at the Olympics and world championships, Cohen's fighting qualities will have to be used elsewhere.
Anyone doubting Cohen's ability should consider his second was well in front of Australian Brendon Long, who sculled at the Athens Olympics. Lightweight sculler Duncan Grant boosted his reputation by finishing third.
On Friday, Cohen won the double sculls with Southern team-mate Matthew Trott but Matheson said it would be up to the selectors to decide whether that pair had the potential to become Olympic finalists.
Rowing New Zealand's recent success has been based on strict tenets, such as the fact they do not use world championships and Olympics as development events. Crews will be sent only if there is an excellent chance of making finals.
"I don't know whether it is potentially a world-class pairing," said Matheson.
"They tackled that race really well. They're putting their hands up to be looked at but trials will give us more of a handle of where they're at.
"But Nathan's certainly a talent we want to work with. How we work with him I think is still a work in progress. We want people like that to put up their hands and give the selectors options and that's what he's done."
Yesterday at Lake Ruataniwha, Drysdale bounced back from a bad day on Friday to dominate the single sculls with a two-boat-length victory over Cohen.
"I was disappointed [with the double sculls]," Drysdale said. "We just didn't perform as well as we should have. It was important to me to go well in the single and Nathan is always a tough competitor.
"I had planned to put something extra into my start and got away nicely. In the first part of the race, I was able to get the lead I wanted. Once ahead, I waited for his attacks and then responded. I kept my rating at about 30 strokes a minute and had a really strong second half."
Drysdale was generous in his praise of Cohen, who he believes is one of the rare breed good enough to go all the way in the sport. "The way he attacks his racing is just awesome. He's really tough and has a great attitude. There's no doubt he'll be competitive at the very top level."
While the likes of Nicky Coles and Juliette Haigh, and the Evers-Swindell twins dominated their classes, the young brigade continued to shine.
Matheson was particularly impressed by the second-place showing of Waikato's young coxless four, saying some of the crew would put huge pressure on the established New Zealand coxless four.
"No one's got a definite seat and that's a good way to be."
