New Zealand’s rowers have opened their international season with a statement, claiming a gold and a bronze medal on the final day of the first World Cup regatta of the year on the Guadalquivir River in Seville.
The standout result came in the men’s pair, where Ben Taylor and Oli Welch powered clear of a strong field to win in 6 minutes 26.86 seconds. The pair led Romania by 1.63 seconds at the halfway mark, then put the foot down through the third 500 metres to almost double their advantage. They crossed the line close to three seconds ahead of the Romanians, who stopped the clock at 6 minutes 29.46 seconds.
It was a result that meant a little more for the Kiwi crew given how the build up had gone. Taylor admitted the boat had not been moving the way the pair wanted in the lead up to the regatta, and that the win in Spain felt like a turning point rather than a given.
“The rhythm hasn’t really been there,” Taylor told RNZ. “We’ve been struggling to find our way a little bit, we hadn’t found that feeling we had back home in New Zealand.” To go from that uncertainty to the top of the podium in a season opener is the sort of platform a campaign can be built on.
The other New Zealand medal came in the women’s coxless four, where Alana Sherman, Isla Blake, Kate Haines and Ella Cossill rowed to bronze in 6 minutes 43.24 seconds. The Netherlands took the win in 6 minutes 34.92 seconds, with Australia second, but for two members of the Kiwi crew the colour of the medal mattered less than simply standing on the dais at all.
It was a first ever World Cup medal for both Haines and Cossill, and the emotion was obvious afterwards. “I’ve been waiting almost seven years to get a medal,” Haines said. “The first thing Ella and I said to each other after the race was, oh my God, we finally got a medal.”
That kind of breakthrough is the quiet story of a season opener. World Cup regattas in early June rarely decide anything on their own, but they tell coaches and athletes who is on track and who has work to do before the racing that counts later in the year. For Haines and Cossill, years of training without the reward of a podium finish make a bronze in Seville feel like validation that the path is the right one.
Not every New Zealand boat found the same joy. The men’s four of Fred Vavasour, Campbell Crouch, Harry Fitzpatrick and Josh Vodanovich finished sixth in their A final in 6 minutes 09.19 seconds, and the women’s quad of Olivia Hay, Stella Clayton-Greene, Beckie Leigh and Veronica Wall also placed sixth, clocking 6 minutes 42.50 seconds. Reaching an A final at a World Cup is itself a marker of class, and sixth in the world’s top six at this point in the season is hardly cause for alarm, but both crews will want more as the campaign develops.
The Seville regatta is the first of the World Cup events on the international calendar and traditionally serves as the first real test of where national squads sit after a winter of training. New Zealand has long punched above its weight on the water, with a deep history of Olympic and world championship success that makes the rowing programme one of the country’s most reliable sources of medals. A gold and a bronze from the opening regatta of a new cycle is a healthy return and a sign the production line is still working.
The focus now shifts to the next block of racing. The team is set to train in Italy before lining up at the second World Cup regatta, which is scheduled for Bulgaria in a fortnight. That hit out will give crews another chance to test their speed against the best in the world and to keep building towards the major championships that bookend the season.
For Taylor and Welch, the challenge will be to back up their Seville form and prove the win was no flash in the pan. For the women’s coxless four, the task is to turn a first medal into a habit. And for the crews who came home sixth, the next regatta is an opportunity to close the gap on the boats that beat them.
You can read more on the New Zealand results at NZ Sportswire and through RNZ Sport.
Did you watch the racing from Seville, and which New Zealand crew are you most excited to follow this season? Let us know in the comments below. You will need to wait 15 seconds before commenting, which keeps the conversation thoughtful and worth reading.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job 🙂
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