No-row: Once was enough for golden eight
Don’t expect the New Zealand men’s eight to defend their Olympic gold medal in Paris.
After winning gold in the blue riband event for the first time in 39 years in Tokyo last year, the eight has disbanded and is massively unlikely to be reassembled for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Instead, gold medallists Matt MacDonald and Tom Mackintosh are aiming to chase gold in the men’s pair, while successful Tokyo crewmate Phillip Wilson could be part of a four or a quad sculls boat.
The New Zealand women’s eight which claimed silver in Tokyo is also unlikely to be in action in Paris, but dual Olympic medallists Grace Prendergast and Kerri Williams (nee Gowler) should be pursuing a second consecutive gold in the pair.
Rowing New Zealand has sent 10 boats to the world rowing championships which start in Racice, Czech Republic, on Sunday night.
Among them are Tokyo Olympics gold medallists Emma Twigg, MacDonald, Mackintosh, Wilson, Beth Ross, Prendergast and Williams and silver medallist Hannah Osborne.
MacDonald said he has his eye set on competing in the pair at Paris. ‘‘There’s always a bit of a reshuffle after an Olympic cycle with people retiring, people stopping rowing, people’s interests changing.’’
That saw MacDonald and Mackintosh contest two World Cup regattas in the pair this year, winning gold in Poznan, Poland, before finishing fourth in Lucerne, Switzerland.
‘‘It’s been a bit of a learning curve, but it’s been enjoyable.
‘‘It’s been quite refreshing working with just one other guy in the boat and you get to think on the fly a bit more. It’s been really exciting ... when it’s going really well it’s super rewarding ... it’s got quite a feel to the boat.’’
MacDonald said the two World Cup outings proved particularly useful.
‘‘It was a pretty unknown field to us – we hadn’t raced in the pair internationally before, so it was
‘‘It’s been quite refreshing working with just one other guy in the boat and you get to think on the fly a bit more. It’s been really exciting.’’
Matt MacDonald
good to see how we stack up against some quality international crews.
’’We’ve put our heads down over the last two months since we got back from the World Cups tour and tried to work on a few
things – and we’re excited to get to put those things on display at the world champs.
‘‘It’s very competitive this year – the pair’s really opened up, no one’s made it their own yet. There’s probably six or seven crews that could win on any given day.’’
The 23-year-old described the smaller boat experience as ‘‘a bit more touchy-feely’’.
‘‘The eight is robust and you can be quite aggressive and not have to worry about the little one-percenters of the rowing stroke. But the pair is literally at the opposite end of the spectrum – you have to be aggressive and really drive the boat but there’s a lot more damage you can do to the run of the boat if it’s smaller and going slower.’’
Spearheaded by Hamish Bond, who had won gold in the pair at the two previous Olympics, the New Zealand men’s eight stunned their more-fancied rivals Great Britain and Germany in the final at last year’s Tokyo Olympics. ‘‘What I’m most proud of is that we rowed our best when it mattered the most,’’ MacDonald said of the victory. ‘‘That final week of the regatta, the boys were firing on all cylinders and all our ducks came in a row at the right time. That was extremely satisfying to put our best foot forward at the end of the season, at the end of an Olympic cycle and then for that to be enough to win was incredible.’’ An Olympic rookie aged 22, MacDonald said he went into the event with the expectation for it to be a massive learning experience
‘‘I was still obviously going to give it 100% and do well, wanted to win and get a medal – but I was really willing to take it all in and have a massive learning experience and then apply that for the next cycle.’’
While MacDonald and Mackintosh look towards the pair for the next Olympic cycle, the prospect of a competitive New Zealand sweep oar four also looms.
’’We’ve got a group of development guys coming up who are probably realistically looking to put a four together for Paris.
‘‘That’s a group of athletes who are rowing in the US university system and a few New Zealand-based athletes – a bunch have just rowed at the world under-23 champs.’’
Rowing NZ has in recent years altered its selection policy to include rowers at US colleges.
‘‘We’re finding ways to make it work – we want those guys because they’re good and add massive value to our teams,’’ MacDonald said.