- Home
- /
- High Performance Athletes
- /
- Gut instinct turns...
Gut instinct turns to gold
Ben Taylor and Oliver Welch latest to join New Zealand's unrivalled record in the Pair.
The moment Ben Taylor hopped in a pair with Oliver Welch at the beginning of the year, he knew they had something special.
That intuition has come to fruition after they convincingly won the gold medal in the Men's Pair at the World Championships in Shanghai, China.
In just a few short months they've progressed from winning the Varese round of the World Cup in their first international regatta together, to consolidating their potential with silver two weeks later in Lucerne, and now being crowned world champions.
"I don't really know what to feel right now, to be honest," says Ben. "It's definitely a weird feeling and I think it'll take a couple hours or a couple days to sink in."
There was a sense from the very first strokes, the New Zealanders were on their absolute A-game.
They surged out to a two-metre lead over European champions Romania within the first 250m and just kept inching away from the field.
"Usually, we go out for two or 300 metres and then settle into a bit of a rhythm, but it was just such a bulletproof rhythm [today]," says Oli.
"We just knew we were on to something good, we knew we were going to have to work hard but were definitely in with a shot. Just seeing them fall further and further behind was pretty rewarding."
Their attention to detail and confidence in their rowing had them out to a length at the 1000m mark.
"It's definitely something we've been working on throughout the regatta," says Oli. "Trusting our base speed and for me in the bow, just sitting behind Ben, letting him lead it. We just did it perfectly today."
The predicted threat from the Romanians in the third 500m never materialised.
New Zealand's margin only kept increasing, Ben and Oli crossing in 6 minutes 37.87 seconds. Romania was second in 6.42.85, followed by Switzerland in 6.43.84.
" I guess getting into our first race together at the Nationals in February was a good first taste of what it could be like," says Ben. "We actually went out and dominated the first K in that one too. I was thinking maybe we can be in the medals at these World Cups, but to be able to be world champion…it's definitely something else!"
It's been a rapid ascent for Oli, who's only just turned 22, and is competing in his first full World Championships. His ability was foreshadowed when he and Josh Vodanovich won the Men's Pair at the Under 23 World Championships in Canada just 12 months ago.
The moment Ben Taylor hopped in a pair with Oliver Welch at the beginning of the year, he knew they had something special. That intuition has come to fruition after they convincingly won the gold medal in the Men's Pair at the World Championships in Shanghai, China.
Veronica Wall, Stella Clayton-Greene, Kathryn Glen and Ella Cossill were in their first regatta together as a crew and lined up for the medal race in the Women's Quad immediately after the pair.
It was a tough act to follow but they can be pleased with their progress, crossing the line in 6.47.90 to finish ranked fifth in the world.
" I think that we honestly exceeded expectations of ourselves," says Kathryn. "We haven't been together that long so I think it was going to be pretty tough for us to get up on the podium."
The Netherlands reversed the disappointment of losing to Great Britain in the final strokes of the Olympic final in Paris to win in 6.32.92.
The women's quad of Veronica Wall, Stella Clayton-Greene, Kathryn Glen and Ella Cossill crossed the line in 6.47.90 in the A Final to finish fifth in the world.
Ben Mason and Finn Hamill can look back on their first season together with a sense of achievement, even if the pinnacle didn't finish as they'd hoped.
They won bronze at World Cup Varese and silver at Lucerne where they were just 0.05 seconds behind Serbia's Nikolaj Pimenov and Martin Mackovic.
The duel with Pimenov and Mackovic has continued through the week in Shanghai, first in the heat, and then in today's semifinal.
In a stacked field that also included Poland, Switzerland, Belgium and Australia, New Zealand were comfortable trying to stay within a length of the Serbians.
"Throughout the season in some of our races we've almost negative splitted and had a faster second 1000m than the first," says Ben.
But they just couldn't quite get out from under the cloud of fourth spot in a race Serbia dictated from start to finish, crossing the line in 6.36.46. New Zealand clocked 6.40.23.
"We weren't able to come back how we would have liked to, just didn't row quite as well today," says Ben. "It was just a little bit of togetherness [that was missing], just subtle things like keeping the boat light. It was just a bit heavy on the legs [which] just doesn't allow you to really put the pressure on at the back end of the race."
They have the B Final tomorrow afternoon and then Ben is scheduled to race the Mixed Double with Kathryn Glen on Sunday
Ben Mason and Finn Hamill just couldn't quite get out from under the cloud of fourth spot in the semi-final Serbia dictated from start to finish, crossing the line in 6.36.46. New Zealand clocked 6.40.23.
For a generation of older rowers, the Pimenov name carries enormous reputation. Serbia's Nikolaj Pimenov is the son of former Russian oarsman Nikolay Pimenov, who with his twin Yuriy, were famous as a pairs combination in the late 1970s and 80s.
The twins won silver at the Moscow Olympics in 1980 behind the even more highly regarded Landvoigt brothers from East Germany.
The Pimenovs were the only crew to ever beat the Landvoigts in the 180 times they raced the pair between 1974-80.
Former international Chris White was just coming into the New Zealand system when the Pimenovs and Landvoigts were at the peak of their powers, and East Germany's programme especially was the gold standard (albeit performance enhanced or not).
Being behind the Iron Curtain only enhanced their mystique and the challenge of beating them.
"Back in those days they were on the other side of the fence," says Chris, who represented New Zealand between 1981-96, including at four Olympics. "I think that's something we should be pretty proud of…that we managed to get in front of the Easties and Russians on a good couple of occasions.
"Most Western nations didn't have a hope in hell of doing that. I'm sure there would've been plenty of crews who went out on the track thinking they were racing for second or third, that they couldn't possibly get in front of these guys, which we did."
Yuriy Pimenov at stroke, brother Nikolay at bow.
The NZ Crews in action tomorrow (Fri 26 September)
4.56pm (NZT) Logan Ullrich in Semifinal 2 of the Men's Single Sculls.
5.53pm (NZT) Flynn Eliadis-Watson, Campbell Crouch, Zack Rumble, Matt Dunham in the B final of the Men's Four.
7.05pm (NZT) Alana Sherman, Isla Blake, Beckie Leigh, Juliette Lequeux in the A Final of the Women's Four.
Andy Hay
Andy Hay is a freelance producer, writer and Maadi Cup-winning coach. He was cox of the world champion New Zealand eight of 1982 and '83. He is NZ Olympian #446.
Share Story
- Home
- /
- High Performance Athletes
- /
- Gut instinct turns...
Gut instinct turns to gold
Ben Taylor and Oliver Welch latest to join New Zealand's unrivalled record in the Pair.
The moment Ben Taylor hopped in a pair with Oliver Welch at the beginning of the year, he knew they had something special.
That intuition has come to fruition after they convincingly won the gold medal in the Men's Pair at the World Championships in Shanghai, China.
In just a few short months they've progressed from winning the Varese round of the World Cup in their first international regatta together, to consolidating their potential with silver two weeks later in Lucerne, and now being crowned world champions.
"I don't really know what to feel right now, to be honest," says Ben. "It's definitely a weird feeling and I think it'll take a couple hours or a couple days to sink in."
There was a sense from the very first strokes, the New Zealanders were on their absolute A-game.
They surged out to a two-metre lead over European champions Romania within the first 250m and just kept inching away from the field.
"Usually, we go out for two or 300 metres and then settle into a bit of a rhythm, but it was just such a bulletproof rhythm [today]," says Oli.
"We just knew we were on to something good, we knew we were going to have to work hard but were definitely in with a shot. Just seeing them fall further and further behind was pretty rewarding."
Their attention to detail and confidence in their rowing had them out to a length at the 1000m mark.
"It's definitely something we've been working on throughout the regatta," says Oli. "Trusting our base speed and for me in the bow, just sitting behind Ben, letting him lead it. We just did it perfectly today."
The predicted threat from the Romanians in the third 500m never materialised.
New Zealand's margin only kept increasing, Ben and Oli crossing in 6 minutes 37.87 seconds. Romania was second in 6.42.85, followed by Switzerland in 6.43.84.
" I guess getting into our first race together at the Nationals in February was a good first taste of what it could be like," says Ben. "We actually went out and dominated the first K in that one too. I was thinking maybe we can be in the medals at these World Cups, but to be able to be world champion…it's definitely something else!"
It's been a rapid ascent for Oli, who's only just turned 22, and is competing in his first full World Championships. His ability was foreshadowed when he and Josh Vodanovich won the Men's Pair at the Under 23 World Championships in Canada just 12 months ago.
The moment Ben Taylor hopped in a pair with Oliver Welch at the beginning of the year, he knew they had something special. That intuition has come to fruition after they convincingly won the gold medal in the Men's Pair at the World Championships in Shanghai, China.
Veronica Wall, Stella Clayton-Greene, Kathryn Glen and Ella Cossill were in their first regatta together as a crew and lined up for the medal race in the Women's Quad immediately after the pair.
It was a tough act to follow but they can be pleased with their progress, crossing the line in 6.47.90 to finish ranked fifth in the world.
" I think that we honestly exceeded expectations of ourselves," says Kathryn. "We haven't been together that long so I think it was going to be pretty tough for us to get up on the podium."
The Netherlands reversed the disappointment of losing to Great Britain in the final strokes of the Olympic final in Paris to win in 6.32.92.
The women's quad of Veronica Wall, Stella Clayton-Greene, Kathryn Glen and Ella Cossill crossed the line in 6.47.90 in the A Final to finish fifth in the world.
Ben Mason and Finn Hamill can look back on their first season together with a sense of achievement, even if the pinnacle didn't finish as they'd hoped.
They won bronze at World Cup Varese and silver at Lucerne where they were just 0.05 seconds behind Serbia's Nikolaj Pimenov and Martin Mackovic.
The duel with Pimenov and Mackovic has continued through the week in Shanghai, first in the heat, and then in today's semifinal.
In a stacked field that also included Poland, Switzerland, Belgium and Australia, New Zealand were comfortable trying to stay within a length of the Serbians.
"Throughout the season in some of our races we've almost negative splitted and had a faster second 1000m than the first," says Ben.
But they just couldn't quite get out from under the cloud of fourth spot in a race Serbia dictated from start to finish, crossing the line in 6.36.46. New Zealand clocked 6.40.23.
"We weren't able to come back how we would have liked to, just didn't row quite as well today," says Ben. "It was just a little bit of togetherness [that was missing], just subtle things like keeping the boat light. It was just a bit heavy on the legs [which] just doesn't allow you to really put the pressure on at the back end of the race."
They have the B Final tomorrow afternoon and then Ben is scheduled to race the Mixed Double with Kathryn Glen on Sunday
Ben Mason and Finn Hamill just couldn't quite get out from under the cloud of fourth spot in the semi-final Serbia dictated from start to finish, crossing the line in 6.36.46. New Zealand clocked 6.40.23.
For a generation of older rowers, the Pimenov name carries enormous reputation. Serbia's Nikolaj Pimenov is the son of former Russian oarsman Nikolay Pimenov, who with his twin Yuriy, were famous as a pairs combination in the late 1970s and 80s.
The twins won silver at the Moscow Olympics in 1980 behind the even more highly regarded Landvoigt brothers from East Germany.
The Pimenovs were the only crew to ever beat the Landvoigts in the 180 times they raced the pair between 1974-80.
Former international Chris White was just coming into the New Zealand system when the Pimenovs and Landvoigts were at the peak of their powers, and East Germany's programme especially was the gold standard (albeit performance enhanced or not).
Being behind the Iron Curtain only enhanced their mystique and the challenge of beating them.
"Back in those days they were on the other side of the fence," says Chris, who represented New Zealand between 1981-96, including at four Olympics. "I think that's something we should be pretty proud of…that we managed to get in front of the Easties and Russians on a good couple of occasions.
"Most Western nations didn't have a hope in hell of doing that. I'm sure there would've been plenty of crews who went out on the track thinking they were racing for second or third, that they couldn't possibly get in front of these guys, which we did."
Yuriy Pimenov at stroke, brother Nikolay at bow.
The NZ Crews in action tomorrow (Fri 26 September)
4.56pm (NZT) Logan Ullrich in Semifinal 2 of the Men's Single Sculls.
5.53pm (NZT) Flynn Eliadis-Watson, Campbell Crouch, Zack Rumble, Matt Dunham in the B final of the Men's Four.
7.05pm (NZT) Alana Sherman, Isla Blake, Beckie Leigh, Juliette Lequeux in the A Final of the Women's Four.
Andy Hay
Andy Hay is a freelance producer, writer and Maadi Cup-winning coach. He was cox of the world champion New Zealand eight of 1982 and '83. He is NZ Olympian #446.
