New Zealand's Men's Eight claimed bronze at the U23 World Rowing Championships in Duisburg, Germany, finishing behind six-time defending champions Great Britain and the USA on the final day of racing.
Oli Leach, Dylan McConnell, Matthew Glen, Sam Woodgate, Nic Bryan, Josh Syme, Ted Mayne, Luke Hickling and cox Hunter Rowland crossed the line in 5:34.98. It's back-to-back medals for the crew and coach Calvin Ferguson, who guided last year's eight to silver.
The boat trailed through the first 500m, though just 1.49 seconds separated the entire field. Stroke Oli Leach wasn't fazed, focusing on finding the rhythm that had clicked in training. "We had a really strong base during training and practice pieces, like we'd get on to a really good, really easy fast pace. So our main objective was just making sure we found that as a crew around the 500 metres."
New Zealand moved into fourth at halfway, surged to third at 1250m, and held off Australia by 0.08 seconds at 1500m before securing the bronze. GB took gold in 5:31.94, the USA silver in 5:32.98.
For Syracuse athlete Nic Bryan, a product of Mt Albert Grammar School in Auckland, it's a second consecutive U23 medal. "In a way it was very similar to last year, like we hadn't really had much international experience together. So it was let's just work as hard as we can to be as fast as we can and see what we get out of it." Back in the four seat after last year's success, he added: "It's always a pleasure to be in the 'meat seat'. If anything, it's a pleasure to be in any seat, especially when you get selected as an Under 23 crew for New Zealand."
The crew blends four New Zealand-based athletes with five from US college programmes, with Calvin holding it all together. He puts the middle-race surge down to rowing efficiency rather than raw power. "I think it's effective power that we have, we may be slightly underpowered in some areas, but we're more effective in the way we row and the way they accelerate through the water and finish every stroke off. Even coming down the track at 38 to 40 we're still giving the boat time to run."
Coxswain Hunter Rowland drew particular praise from the coach. "He's like a different animal," said Calvin. "He's very confident, he's got a bit of spark about him…a lot more authority, he's got that little bit of mongrel."
Most of the crew have at least two more years of Under 23 eligibility. Rob Woodgate, father of crew member Sam, watched from Christchurch. He recalled five of these athletes slugging it out as fierce U18 rivals at school three years ago. "Now they're all on the same team. I love that. I think that's what sport's about."
Earlier in the day, Madeline Cox contested the B Final of the Women's Single Sculls. She'd shown real promise in the semifinal, building strongly through the last 500m before catching the lane buoys in the closing strokes, allowing Australia's Sarah Bourke to nudge ahead.
The B Final was a chance to put a complete race together. World U19 champion Varvara Lykomitrou of Greece won in 7:36.08, with Madeline fifth in 7:44.04. There's an eight-second gap and 12 months to close it, for Madeline and plenty of others in the group who will get another shot next year.
