Sport liftout
Rowing’s countdown to Tokyo
The exact make-up of the New Zealand rowing team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics won’t be known until two months before the Games. The majority of boats – particularly the women’s crews – should be sorted prior to Rowing NZ’s European campaign in May, but the organisation needs to be flexible over selection as two boats are still seeking qualification for the Olympics.
Rowing NZ will send a team to the second and third World Cup regattas that will feature 11 boats with Olympic ambitions. Nine boats have already qualified for Tokyo while two men’s boats – the quad and the eight – will seek to qualify at the third World Cup event.
How those two boats fare may have an impact on the composition of a number of men’s boats for Tokyo – depending on what choices the selectors originally make for the team to head to Europe.
There are two places for Tokyo available in both the men’s eight and quad classes at World Cup III in Lucerne, Switzerland, from May 22-24. Both Kiwi boats in those classes narrowly missed automatic qualification at last year’s world championships in Linz Ottensheim, Austria.
The men’s eight that finished sixth in their A final at the world champs – with the top five winning automatic spots in Tokyo – featured three-time Olympic medallist Mahe Drysdale and two-time pairs gold medallist Hamish Bond. Drysdale is currently training as a sculler again and wants to claim the single scull spot that has been held over the past three season by Robbie Manson.
As well as their efforts in summer squad training, the Olympic contenders will get competitive opportunities to stake claims at the North Island club championships at the end of January at Lake Karapiro, and the NZ champs in mid-February at the same venue.
Rowing NZ will initially name a team to contest two World Cup regattas – the first in Varese, Italy, on May 1-3 – and then finalise the team for Tokyo once they know how many boats they’ll have competing at the Games. Here’s a breakdown of the likely selections:
WOMEN
Single scull:
The incumbent - Emma Twigg
Likely Tokyo 2020 selection - Twigg. The 32-year-old retired after again missing out on a medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, but decided on one last push for Olympic glory, and has looked as good as ever since her return. She collected silver behind Ireland’s Sanita Puspure at last year’s world championships and will be able to have the ideal preparation this summer, as opposed to the turbulent Rio campaign.
Double sculls:
The incumbents - Brooke Donoghue and Olivia Loe
Likely Tokyo 2020 selection - Donoghue and Loe. The Kiwi duo won gold at the 2019 world champs in Austria. It was their second world title in three seasons and they took silver in the other year, setting themselves up as the most consistent combination in the class post-Rio and as Tokyo favourites.
Lightweight double sculls:
The incumbent - Zoe McBride and Jackie Kiddle Likely Tokyo 2020 selection – McBride and Kiddle. The duo made up for a disappointing sixth at the 2018 world champs with gold last year. If fully fit this summer, Sophie MacKenzie will push the incumbents hard, but it’s tough to envisage a change of crew for Tokyo.
Coxless pair:
The incumbents – Kerri Gowler and Grace Prendergast
Likely Tokyo 2020 selection - Gowler and Prendergast. Doesn’t require an extra second of thought. Missed out on the spot for Rio to eventual silver medallists Rebecca Scown and Genevieve Behrent and have flourished since, with gold, silver and gold at the past three world champs. But will they double up in the eight? Quad:
The incumbents - Kirstyn Goodger, Ruby Tew, Samantha Voss, Hannah Osborne.
Likely Tokyo 2020 selection - Goodger, Tew, Voss, Osborne. The surprise qualifiers in a new boat in Austria should get another crack together. Eight:
The incumbents - Ella Greenslade, Emma Dyke, Lucy Spoors, Kelsey Bevan, Grace Prendergast, Kerri Gowler, Elizabeth Ross, Jackie Gowler, coxswain Caleb Shepherd.
Likely Tokyo 2020 selection - A major decision facing the selection panel is whether to give Prendergast and Gowler double duty. The pair raced in both classes in Austria and won dual gold, but the Tokyo programme could be seen as too taxing. The selectors will have to work out what maximises the gold medal prospects of both boats. Should they only row in the pair, there’s the likes of Ashlee Rowe, Davina Waddy, Eve Macfarlane, Georgia Nugent-O’Leary, Kelsi Walters and Phoebe Spoors as possible replacements.
MEN
Single scull:
The incumbent - Robbie Manson
Likely Tokyo 2020 selection - Mahe Drysdale. Manson could again be the form single sculler over the home summer – he won the Christmas regatta event in December in a canter – but the selectors must be wary of using that criteria after it’s failed to return dividends at the past three world champs. Drysdale’s past record may help him get the nod in the single for the World Cups if he’s in good enough shape over the next month.
Double sculls:
The incumbents - Chris Harris and John Storey
Likely Tokyo 2020 selection - Any two from Manson, Harris and Storey, if Drysdale is the single sculler. The latter duo have been in the boat since Rio and have world champs gold and bronze medals, but Austria was a major disappointment with an eighth-place finish, and if Manson isn’t in the single, he could boost the double.
Coxless pair:
The incumbents - Tom Murray and Michael Brake
Likely Tokyo 2020 selection - Murray and Brake. This combination has constantly improved over the past two seasons to the stage where they challenged Croatian superstars Martin and Valent Sinkovic for gold last year. They could be challenged though by two-time defending Olympic champ in the class, Hamish Bond, and James Lassche. That combination – part of the eight in Austria – has excelled together at past national championship regattas. Quad:
The incumbents - Nathan Flannery, Lewis Hollows, Cameron Crampton, Jordan Parry Likely Tokyo 2020 selection - First they have to qualify the boat. The relatively young crew was third in the B final at last year’s world champs, missing automatic qualification for Tokyo by less than two seconds. Depending on who gets the nod in the single and double scull boats, this foursome could feature one of the Manson/Harris/Storey trio when it races in Lucerne.
Eight:
The incumbents - James Lassche, Hamish Bond, Shaun Kirkham, Mahe Drysdale, Brook Robertson, Phillip Wilson, Matthew MacDonald, Stephen Jones, coxswain Sam Bosworth. Likely Tokyo 2020 selection - There’s one notable obvious change should Drysdale be given the nod to chase his fourth Olympic single scull medal.
If Bond and Lassche usurp Murray and Brake in the pair, the latter duo would fit easily into this eight – they were both in the eight in Rio.