NZ competitors find their places
AUCKLAND: Women's double scullers Brooke Donoghue and Hannah Osborne have laid down an early marker in Tokyo, with a commanding win in their heat yesterday.
While it is early days, it was an important performance from the Kiwis, who established their credentials as one of the teams to beat in Japan.
On a productive day for the New Zealand team, Donoghue and Osborne were probably the pick of the bunch.
They powered away from the rest of the field in the second quarter of the race, with clear water for the rest of the contest, before conserving some energy in the final stages.
They crossed the line in 6min 53.62sec, 2.03sec ahead of the United States, with the French combination another 2sec back.
The highly regarded Chinese team was well off the pace — more than 10sec behind the Kiwis — to miss automatic qualification for the semifinals, with the top three boats progressing.
Osborne's selection raised some eyebrows, as she displaced Olivia Loe, who had claimed successive world championships in the stroke seat alongside Donoghue.
But Osborne displayed her power, helping the New Zealanders to row through the French and the Chinese after the 500m mark.
They had trailed the French by 1.21sec at the first gate, and were a whisker behind the Asian crew, but turned that deficit into a 1.39sec advantage by the halfway point.
Osborne was pleased with her first hit out and said she felt no nerves despite the relative unfamiliarity with the event.
‘‘It has been a little bit of a whirlwind, but to end up in the double with Brooke has been amazing,’’ she said.
‘‘It just felt like we were racing at home when we were in the start.’’
Double scullers Chris Harris and Jack Lopas also demonstrated their potential, coming through a tough heat to automatically qualify for the next round.
The Kiwi combination had to hold off a strong late charge by Ireland, before finding an extra gear to seal third place.
It was a brutal race, with little between the four crews.
The New Zealanders made a solid start, holding a narrow lead over Poland and Switzerland after the first quarter of the race.
At the halfway point they were tucked in second, 1.16sec behind the Poles, who are recent European champions.
Harris and Lopas were maintaining a good pace, though slipped into third, behind the Swiss, at the third gate.
The final 500m was a killer for all four teams. Ireland upped its stroke rate noticeably, edging close to the New Zealanders, but Harris and Lopas responded well to reestablish their advantage, finishing in 6min 12.40sec, 3.18sec ahead of the Irish.
Meanwhile, Emma Twigg made the best possible start to her campaign with an assured performance in her heat.
The 34yearold led for most of the race, and crossed the line comfortably ahead of rivals from the Netherlands and Serbia.
It was an important boost for Twigg, who is seeded No 1 for this event but has not raced internationally since late 2019 due to Covid.
She is desperate to gain a medal in Tokyo, after the heartbreak of fourth place finishes in both London (2012) and Rio (2016).
Drawn in lane six, Twigg had a narrow, 1.32sec lead after 500m, before extending to just over 2sec at the halfway point, with her economical but effective style.
She put the hammer down in the third quarter to increase her advantage to nearly 4sec, before easing to the finish line, crossing in 7min 35.22sec.
Sophie Souwer, of the Netherlands, and Serb Jovanna Arsic were the other automatic qualifiers, trailing the Kiwi by 4.74sec and 11.52sec respectively.
Also qualifying yesterday was Jordan Parry, who progressed to the quarterfinals of the men's single sculls after a second place in his heat.