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Headwinds turn opening day into a game of survival
Lane draws crucial as Bosbaan carves up at World Champs
The Bosbaan course not far from the centre of Amsterdam is renowned for producing world best times but when there's a headwind blowing…it's just a slog, especially if you're rowing in the outside lanes.
That's how it was on opening day of the World Rowing Championships where four New Zealand crews were competing.
The standout Kiwi performance belonged to the world champion Men's Pair of Ben Taylor and Oli Welch.
They drew Croatia's Loncaric brothers, Anton and Patrick, and the Swiss combination of Patrick Brunner and Jonah Plock, who won bronze at World Cup III in Lucerne in June.
"Bloody tough and very long," was Ben's summary of the race. "Once those gusts hit, it was just about staying together and not trying to go for extra because the speed dropped [if you did]."
New Zealand had a good start and led by half a length at the 500m and from that position was able to control the race.
The margin was more than four seconds at halfway and blew out to over six at the finish.
"You kind of got to the halfway mark thinking, 'God, I wish this was over already,'" says Ben.
He and Oli crossed in 7min 05.37sec, the Loncarics were second (7:12.04) and Switzerland third (7:15.67).
There was little to read into times across the day.
"The wind was up and down like anything," says coach Mike Rodger. "Even on the push bike you could clearly notice how different the wind was in different places. You couldn't look at any event and take any realistic numbers out of it."
The win puts Ben and Oli into what Mike calls a “cracker” of a semifinal that includes Romania, Great Britain, Australia, Greece and Switzerland on Thursday morning NZT.
World champion Men's Pair of Ben Taylor and Oli Welch had to slog it out to win their heat in a strong headwind.
Katie Lush and Juliette Lequeux were the first New Zealand crew out on the water for a stacked heat one of the Women's Pair.
They were up against France's new power duo of Hezekia Peron and Emma Cornelis, who won a breakout silver at last year's World Championships in Shanghai when Peron was just 19.
The USA's Mia Levy and Regina Salmons won the pair at World Cup III in Lucerne in June and Australia's Katherine Easton and Emmie Frederico took out the B Final.
The US led from start to finish in a time of 7:46.79.
Katie and Juliette were able to get their bow into third through the first 500m before finishing in fourth in 7:55.88 and setting a time good enough to take them into the semifinals on Thursday morning NZT.
France was second (7:49.47) and Australia third (7:52.22).
Katie Lush and Juliette Lequeux finished in fourth in their Women's Pair Heat and set a time good enough to take them into the semifinals on Thursday morning NZT.
Ben Mason and Finn Hamill lined up in the second of five heats for the Men's Double, one of the biggest fields of the regatta.
They were up against the Romanian crew that won gold at the Paris Olympics in 2024. Romania led at halfway, just over three seconds up on Ben and Finn.
The two automatic qualifying spots for the quarter-finals were settled at the 1500m, enabling the Romanians and New Zealand to coast home.
Ben Mason and Finn Hamill got through to the quarter-finals in the Men's Double.
Eva Hofmans and Sophie Egnot-Johnson finished fifth in the opening heat of the Women's Double, which was won by Ireland in 7:46.73. Eva and Sophie crossed the line in 8:02.82 and will race in the C Final on Thursday morning at 12.34am NZT.
Eva Hofmans and Sophie Egnot-Johnson finished fifth in their heat of the Women's Double.
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.
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- Home
- /
- International Regattas
- /
- Headwinds turn opening...
Headwinds turn opening day into a game of survival
Lane draws crucial as Bosbaan carves up at World Champs
The Bosbaan course not far from the centre of Amsterdam is renowned for producing world best times but when there's a headwind blowing…it's just a slog, especially if you're rowing in the outside lanes.
That's how it was on opening day of the World Rowing Championships where four New Zealand crews were competing.
The standout Kiwi performance belonged to the world champion Men's Pair of Ben Taylor and Oli Welch.
They drew Croatia's Loncaric brothers, Anton and Patrick, and the Swiss combination of Patrick Brunner and Jonah Plock, who won bronze at World Cup III in Lucerne in June.
"Bloody tough and very long," was Ben's summary of the race. "Once those gusts hit, it was just about staying together and not trying to go for extra because the speed dropped [if you did]."
New Zealand had a good start and led by half a length at the 500m and from that position was able to control the race.
The margin was more than four seconds at halfway and blew out to over six at the finish.
"You kind of got to the halfway mark thinking, 'God, I wish this was over already,'" says Ben.
He and Oli crossed in 7min 05.37sec, the Loncarics were second (7:12.04) and Switzerland third (7:15.67).
There was little to read into times across the day.
"The wind was up and down like anything," says coach Mike Rodger. "Even on the push bike you could clearly notice how different the wind was in different places. You couldn't look at any event and take any realistic numbers out of it."
The win puts Ben and Oli into what Mike calls a “cracker” of a semifinal that includes Romania, Great Britain, Australia, Greece and Switzerland on Thursday morning NZT.
World champion Men's Pair of Ben Taylor and Oli Welch had to slog it out to win their heat in a strong headwind.
Katie Lush and Juliette Lequeux were the first New Zealand crew out on the water for a stacked heat one of the Women's Pair.
They were up against France's new power duo of Hezekia Peron and Emma Cornelis, who won a breakout silver at last year's World Championships in Shanghai when Peron was just 19.
The USA's Mia Levy and Regina Salmons won the pair at World Cup III in Lucerne in June and Australia's Katherine Easton and Emmie Frederico took out the B Final.
The US led from start to finish in a time of 7:46.79.
Katie and Juliette were able to get their bow into third through the first 500m before finishing in fourth in 7:55.88 and setting a time good enough to take them into the semifinals on Thursday morning NZT.
France was second (7:49.47) and Australia third (7:52.22).
Katie Lush and Juliette Lequeux finished in fourth in their Women's Pair Heat and set a time good enough to take them into the semifinals on Thursday morning NZT.
Ben Mason and Finn Hamill lined up in the second of five heats for the Men's Double, one of the biggest fields of the regatta.
They were up against the Romanian crew that won gold at the Paris Olympics in 2024. Romania led at halfway, just over three seconds up on Ben and Finn.
The two automatic qualifying spots for the quarter-finals were settled at the 1500m, enabling the Romanians and New Zealand to coast home.
Ben Mason and Finn Hamill got through to the quarter-finals in the Men's Double.
Eva Hofmans and Sophie Egnot-Johnson finished fifth in the opening heat of the Women's Double, which was won by Ireland in 7:46.73. Eva and Sophie crossed the line in 8:02.82 and will race in the C Final on Thursday morning at 12.34am NZT.
Eva Hofmans and Sophie Egnot-Johnson finished fifth in their heat of the Women's Double.
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.
