No room for error, even on opening day
Kiwi crews know only A-game gets you an A-Final
New Zealand made a solid start to the international rowing season on day one of the World Cup regatta in Seville, Spain.
Eight crews were in action, five of them progressing to A Finals or semifinals.
The world champion Men's Pair of Ben Taylor and Oliver Welch were convincing winners in their heat, racing in a five-boat field of mostly untested crews.
Taylor and Welch had no trouble over the 2km course, finishing in a time of 6 minutes 36.39 seconds to win by over two lengths from Slovenia then Norway.
Welch was pleased with progress after a good buildup through the New Zealand summer.
"Good start for us, good to blow the lungs out a little bit. We've spent quite a bit of time since January in the pair so it's good to get out there and do a bit of racing."
The New Zealanders posted the fastest time of the three heats and qualified directly for tonight's semifinals (NZT).
The world champion Men's Pair of Ben Taylor and Oliver Welch were convincing winners in their heat.
New Zealand has an untested combination of its own in the Women's Pair. It's been seven years since Katie Lush made her first and only international appearance, competing at the Under 23 World Championships in 2019.
She's been selected to row with Juliette Lequeux, who won two bronze medals at the world championships last year in the Women's Four and Mixed Eight.
New Zealand had the experienced Abraham sisters from Chile in their heat. The Chileans won the B final at last year's world championships in China and showed they are already among the top boats this year. They won in 7:20.07, New Zealand finishing fourth (7:30.12) but posting a time good enough to make the semifinals.
Lush was pretty happy with their first hit-out.
"I think as a new combo we obviously went out to do our best. You've got to be really in your boat and figure out how you are going to go fast...you can't worry about what everyone else is going to do.
"Towards the end of the race, we felt that our sprint does get us moving so it's cool to see parts of our race coming together."
New combo Katie Lush and Juliette Lequeux finished fourth (7:30.12) in the Women's Pair, posting a time good enough to make the semifinals.
The Men's Double Sculls of Ben Mason and Finn Hamill were up against last year's world champion Polish crew in their heat. The Poles finished second behind surprise winners Portugal, New Zealand crossing in fourth.
Mason and Hamill had a breakout season in 2025, winning a bronze and silver at two World Cup regattas. They narrowly missed the A Final at the worlds, eventually finishing eighth overall.
They know they have speed, but with the competition so tight, there was zero margin for error.
"We're a little bit disappointed with today's race," says Mason. "Obviously we had some good success last season, so we've built up a high expectation on ourselves."
"We didn't quite get that free speed and didn't feel like we were quite on top of it…it felt like we were just trying to survive a wee bit."
The small margins left them in an unusual situation.
"I think that we were five or six seconds behind first place, but we're also ranked like 14th overall or something. Every second can cost you so much in this field, you have to be on your game every day…without the repechage system anymore we're going to have to race a C final which I don't think either of us have done before."
The Men's Double Sculls of Ben Mason and Finn Hamill were up against last year's world champion Polish crew in their heat of the men's double. The Poles finished second behind surprise winners Portugal, New Zealand crossing in fourth.
The Women's Double is another new combination, former Yale athlete Eva Hofmans making her senior debut with Waikato athlete Sophie Egnot-Johnson.
Hofmans couldn't have asked for a tougher introduction, racing right next to Romania's power duo of Ancuta Bodnar and Simona Radis, often described as the best female rower in the world.
The Romanians stamped their class on the field, winning in 7:04.08 to advance to the semifinals.
Hofmans and Egnot-Johnson were fifth, crossing the line in 7:19.21. They will also be racing the C Final.
The Women's Double of Eva Hofmans and Sophie Egnot-Johnson were fifth, crossing the line in 7:19.21. They will be racing the C Final.
New Zealand has had significant success in the Coxless Fours over the past few years, the women's crew winning bronze at last year's world championships.
Two of that crew, Alana Sherman and Isla Blake, are back and have been joined by fellow Waikato athletes Kate Haines and Ella Cossill.
They were up against an Australian crew still stung by failing to make the A Final at last year's worlds.
Australia led through each 500m to cross the line in 6:36.28, the New Zealand boat pushing Great Britain out of the other automatic spot for the A Final in the final few strokes to finish second in 6:40.53.
Alana Sherman, Isla Blake, Kate Haines and Ella Cossill finished second in 6:40.53 in their women's four heat, getting a spot in the A Final.
The Men's Four has just one athlete back from the crew that won the B Final at last year's worlds, Campbell Crouch joined by Fred Vavasour, Harry Fitzpatrick and Josh Vodanovich.
They also had a benchmark crew alongside in their heat, up against Great Britain's unchanged world champion crew from last year and showing no signs of slowing down.
That left the Kiwi crew battling Germany for the other automatic qualifying spot to the semifinals, New Zealand beating them comfortably, crossing in 6:07.38, seven seconds behind the Brits.
The Men's Four of Campbell Crouch Fred Vavasour, Harry Fitzpatrick and Josh Vodanovich battled Germany in their heat for the an automatic qualifying spot to the semifinals, New Zealand beating them comfortably, crossing in 6:07.38, seven seconds behind the Brits.
Just a month ago Beckie Leigh was contemplating a winter at home to rebuild after missing out on re-selection in the Women's Four. But Leigh got a reprieve after injury ruled Kathryn Glen out of the Quadruple Sculls.
Leigh, Olivia Hay, Stella Clayton-Greene and Veronica Wall now find themselves in the A Final after finishing second in their heat and clocking the fourth fastest time to put them in medal contention.
"We wanted to be relaxed and we wanted to keep it simple, and we did that," says Leigh. "It was just cool that we came out with a result we're happy with. Everyone's clicking well and moving together, there's a bit of something there."
Beckie Leigh Olivia Hay, Stella Clayton-Greene and Veronica Wall secured their spot in the A Final after finishing second in their heat and clocking the fourth fastest time to put them in medal contention.
The Men's Quad of Arie Magasiva, Callum Tutbury, Oscar Ruston and Ben Olifiers are the least experienced of the squad at this level. They finished fifth in their heat, and will race the C Final.
The Men's Quad of Arie Magasiva, Callum Tutbury, Oscar Ruston and Ben Olifiers finished fifth in their heat and will race the C Final.
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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No room for error, even on opening day
Kiwi crews know only A-game gets you an A-Final
New Zealand made a solid start to the international rowing season on day one of the World Cup regatta in Seville, Spain.
Eight crews were in action, five of them progressing to A Finals or semifinals.
The world champion Men's Pair of Ben Taylor and Oliver Welch were convincing winners in their heat, racing in a five-boat field of mostly untested crews.
Taylor and Welch had no trouble over the 2km course, finishing in a time of 6 minutes 36.39 seconds to win by over two lengths from Slovenia then Norway.
Welch was pleased with progress after a good buildup through the New Zealand summer.
"Good start for us, good to blow the lungs out a little bit. We've spent quite a bit of time since January in the pair so it's good to get out there and do a bit of racing."
The New Zealanders posted the fastest time of the three heats and qualified directly for tonight's semifinals (NZT).
The world champion Men's Pair of Ben Taylor and Oliver Welch were convincing winners in their heat.
New Zealand has an untested combination of its own in the Women's Pair. It's been seven years since Katie Lush made her first and only international appearance, competing at the Under 23 World Championships in 2019.
She's been selected to row with Juliette Lequeux, who won two bronze medals at the world championships last year in the Women's Four and Mixed Eight.
New Zealand had the experienced Abraham sisters from Chile in their heat. The Chileans won the B final at last year's world championships in China and showed they are already among the top boats this year. They won in 7:20.07, New Zealand finishing fourth (7:30.12) but posting a time good enough to make the semifinals.
Lush was pretty happy with their first hit-out.
"I think as a new combo we obviously went out to do our best. You've got to be really in your boat and figure out how you are going to go fast...you can't worry about what everyone else is going to do.
"Towards the end of the race, we felt that our sprint does get us moving so it's cool to see parts of our race coming together."
New combo Katie Lush and Juliette Lequeux finished fourth (7:30.12) in the Women's Pair, posting a time good enough to make the semifinals.
The Men's Double Sculls of Ben Mason and Finn Hamill were up against last year's world champion Polish crew in their heat. The Poles finished second behind surprise winners Portugal, New Zealand crossing in fourth.
Mason and Hamill had a breakout season in 2025, winning a bronze and silver at two World Cup regattas. They narrowly missed the A Final at the worlds, eventually finishing eighth overall.
They know they have speed, but with the competition so tight, there was zero margin for error.
"We're a little bit disappointed with today's race," says Mason. "Obviously we had some good success last season, so we've built up a high expectation on ourselves."
"We didn't quite get that free speed and didn't feel like we were quite on top of it…it felt like we were just trying to survive a wee bit."
The small margins left them in an unusual situation.
"I think that we were five or six seconds behind first place, but we're also ranked like 14th overall or something. Every second can cost you so much in this field, you have to be on your game every day…without the repechage system anymore we're going to have to race a C final which I don't think either of us have done before."
The Men's Double Sculls of Ben Mason and Finn Hamill were up against last year's world champion Polish crew in their heat of the men's double. The Poles finished second behind surprise winners Portugal, New Zealand crossing in fourth.
The Women's Double is another new combination, former Yale athlete Eva Hofmans making her senior debut with Waikato athlete Sophie Egnot-Johnson.
Hofmans couldn't have asked for a tougher introduction, racing right next to Romania's power duo of Ancuta Bodnar and Simona Radis, often described as the best female rower in the world.
The Romanians stamped their class on the field, winning in 7:04.08 to advance to the semifinals.
Hofmans and Egnot-Johnson were fifth, crossing the line in 7:19.21. They will also be racing the C Final.
The Women's Double of Eva Hofmans and Sophie Egnot-Johnson were fifth, crossing the line in 7:19.21. They will be racing the C Final.
New Zealand has had significant success in the Coxless Fours over the past few years, the women's crew winning bronze at last year's world championships.
Two of that crew, Alana Sherman and Isla Blake, are back and have been joined by fellow Waikato athletes Kate Haines and Ella Cossill.
They were up against an Australian crew still stung by failing to make the A Final at last year's worlds.
Australia led through each 500m to cross the line in 6:36.28, the New Zealand boat pushing Great Britain out of the other automatic spot for the A Final in the final few strokes to finish second in 6:40.53.
Alana Sherman, Isla Blake, Kate Haines and Ella Cossill finished second in 6:40.53 in their women's four heat, getting a spot in the A Final.
The Men's Four has just one athlete back from the crew that won the B Final at last year's worlds, Campbell Crouch joined by Fred Vavasour, Harry Fitzpatrick and Josh Vodanovich.
They also had a benchmark crew alongside in their heat, up against Great Britain's unchanged world champion crew from last year and showing no signs of slowing down.
That left the Kiwi crew battling Germany for the other automatic qualifying spot to the semifinals, New Zealand beating them comfortably, crossing in 6:07.38, seven seconds behind the Brits.
The Men's Four of Campbell Crouch Fred Vavasour, Harry Fitzpatrick and Josh Vodanovich battled Germany in their heat for the an automatic qualifying spot to the semifinals, New Zealand beating them comfortably, crossing in 6:07.38, seven seconds behind the Brits.
Just a month ago Beckie Leigh was contemplating a winter at home to rebuild after missing out on re-selection in the Women's Four. But Leigh got a reprieve after injury ruled Kathryn Glen out of the Quadruple Sculls.
Leigh, Olivia Hay, Stella Clayton-Greene and Veronica Wall now find themselves in the A Final after finishing second in their heat and clocking the fourth fastest time to put them in medal contention.
"We wanted to be relaxed and we wanted to keep it simple, and we did that," says Leigh. "It was just cool that we came out with a result we're happy with. Everyone's clicking well and moving together, there's a bit of something there."
Beckie Leigh Olivia Hay, Stella Clayton-Greene and Veronica Wall secured their spot in the A Final after finishing second in their heat and clocking the fourth fastest time to put them in medal contention.
The Men's Quad of Arie Magasiva, Callum Tutbury, Oscar Ruston and Ben Olifiers are the least experienced of the squad at this level. They finished fifth in their heat, and will race the C Final.
The Men's Quad of Arie Magasiva, Callum Tutbury, Oscar Ruston and Ben Olifiers finished fifth in their heat and will race the C Final.
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.
