The New Zealand Men's Four have shot into medal contention at the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam, and after just six weeks together, they're not shy about believing it.
Fred Vavasour, rowing in the bow seat, put it plainly after the crew finished third in their semifinal on the Bosbaan course. "She's all to play for," he said. "We've got as good a chance as any."
What makes that confidence notable is the timeframe. This crew was only formed after Matt Macdonald and Ollie Maclean returned from post-Paris Olympic sabbaticals and U23 international Harry Fitzpatrick was added to the mix.
The Kiwis sat second through the halfway mark, powered by a strong middle 500m, before slipping to third with 500m to go. "We've got a really nice base pace rhythm," Vavasour says, "which when we're getting right is pretty dangerous."
Finding that rhythm hasn't been easy. "It's a pretty swirly course here," he said. "Sometimes you feel like you're really humming along, and then there's points where you feel like you've just been stopped in your tracks."
The final 500 metres turned into a genuine scrap for the three qualifying spots, with Germany surging from fourth to pass China and then challenge New Zealand. Vavasour saw it unfold right in front of him. "We knew the Germans would be fast into the finish, so we tried to put a wee bit more on them," he said. "We were happy with that performance."
The Netherlands won in 5:58.70, Germany took second in 6:00.15, and New Zealand crossed in 6:00.42 to secure their spot in the A Final.
Having Macdonald and Maclean back, both Olympic medallists, has clearly lifted belief within the crew. Vavasour remembers watching Macdonald race from afar. "I remember watching Matt in Tokyo when I was still at school," he said. "Even in Paris, I was still at uni and just kind of poking around in Dunedin." He was rowing out of Marlborough Boys' College when the New Zealand Eight won gold at the 2021 Olympics.
Now he's chasing a medal at his first senior world championships. He says the last few days have been a steep learning curve, with the senior pair setting the tone. "They're so calm around everything," Vavasour said. But when required, they could be ruthless too. "It gives us confidence that if we get our processes right, we're as good as anyone on the day."
Elsewhere for New Zealand, the Women's Four of Alana Sherman, Isla Blake, Kate Haines and Ella Cossill couldn't build on their earlier World Cup form. After bronze at World Cup I in May and silver at World Cup II in Plovdiv in June, they finished fourth in their semifinal in 6:51.94, missing the A Final. The US won in 6:34.05, ahead of Romania (6:42.06) and Great Britain (6:45.13).
That crew will now face an intriguing rival in the B Final: the AIN four of Valentina Plaksina, Marina Rubtsova, Ekaterina Glazkova and Ekaterina Zhevlachenko, all former Russian internationals who returned to top-level competition after years away following sanctions on Russia. All four were rowing for Russia at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta in Lucerne in 2021, but neither of their boats qualified for Tokyo, and Russia was later banned from competing under its own flag at the Games. World Rowing lifted the ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes competing as Individual Neutral Athletes last year. Earlier this month, the crew won bronze at the European Championships behind Great Britain and Germany.
In the Women's Quad, Stella Clayton-Greene, Olivia Hay, Beckie Leigh and Veronica Wall finished second in the C Final behind Poland.
More Kiwi crews are in action through the night. Kathryn Glen races the Women's Single Sculls quarter-final, Katie Lush and Juliette Lequeux contest the Women's Pair B Final, Ben Mason and Finn Hamill front up in the Men's Double Sculls B Final, and Ben Taylor and Oli Welch line up in the Men's Pair A Final.
