It was just the time they had to settle for silver as Whanganui rowing export Kerri Gowler and her Women's Pairs partner Grace Prendergast discovered at the 2018 Rowing World Championships in Bulgaria on Friday, NZ time.
Defending world champions, the Kiwi girls had won at the World Rowing Cup regattas earlier in the season, but they found the Canadian pair of Caileigh Filmer and Hillary Janssess to be tough competition, as they beat them in the semifinals in Plovdiv.
Sitting next to each other for the final, the Kiwi boat got off to the lead from the first stroke, with Gowler and Prendergast just holding their advantage by the 500m mark.
But the Canadians got their nose in front as the two boats way out-stripped the rest of the field, with Italy, China and Spain fighting it out for bronze, while Ireland was out of contention.
Getting the advantage, Filmer and Janssess held their stroke rate at 36, while the Kiwis were working to catch up at 39.