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Sometimes a step back is the best way forward
Time to think things over helps Kiwi crews to medals at World Cup.
New Zealand's won a gold and bronze medal on the final day of the season-opening World Cup regatta in Seville, Spain.
Ben Taylor and Oli Welch remain the world's number one Men's Pair after convincingly beating rivals Romania at the Guadalquivir River course.
The result confirmed what the data and the feeling in the boat before arriving in Europe had been telling the Kiwi pair, although they hadn't quite been able to uncork it in the last couple of weeks.
"The rhythm hasn't really been there," says Ben. "We've been struggling to find our way a little bit…we hadn't found that feeling we had back home in New Zealand."
They sat down on the eve of the final and tried to approach things a bit differently.
"We just kind of said let's stop trying to search for that feeling and just back ourselves. I think just trying to simplify our rowing a bit and simplify the mindset brought us together."
New Zealand led the Romanians by 1.63s at the 1000m mark and extended that lead to nearly three by the 1500m mark.
The Romanians made one last push with 200m to go, lifting to 45 strokes per minute. They made temporary inroads but there was no panic in the New Zealand boat and they crossed in 6:26.86. Romania took the silver in 6:29.46.
Ben Taylor and Oli Welch remain the world's number one Men's Pair after convincingly beating rivals Romania at the Guadalquivir River course.
The final day turned into landmark moments for Kate Haines and Ella Cossill from the Women's Four. Both have years of experience rowing at this level but one thing had eluded them.
"I've been waiting almost seven years to get a medal," says Kate. "The first thing Ella and I said to each other after the race was, 'Oh my God, we finally got a medal!'"
"We were really trying to soak it up together and remember how far we've come…you work so hard for these moments, so you need to make the most of them."
The Netherlands and Australia quickly established themselves as the frontrunners, New Zealand leading the rest of the six-boat field to finish in 6:43.24. The Netherlands won in 6:34.92, barely half a second up on the Australians.
Alana and Isla were part of the crew that won bronze at last year's world championships. Kate and Ella claimed their seats in the boat at trials in March.
Kate took a break from the sport after the Paris Olympics.
" I did about two months of training, and then just thought I actually need a break. I was pretty burnt out, just lost the spark a bit, lost the motivation."
She and Katie Lush, who's now in the Women's Pair, then decided to do a season of club rowing at Molesey in England.
"I just found the love for the sport again through being somewhere else, not training as hard, doing it for fun,” says Kate. “It was huge. I found my purpose again."
Ella Cossill, Kate Haines, Isla Blake and Alana Sherman after claiming bronze in the Women's Four.
The Men's Four of Fred Vavasour, Campbell Crouch, Harry Fitzpatrick and Josh Vodanovich were racing their first A Final at this level. The fours have become the priority boat for a lot of the big rowing nations while the New Zealand crew is still relatively young and inexperienced.
World champions Great Britain put on a masterclass to take the gold in 5.54.46. New Zealand was sixth in 6:09.19.
The Women's Quad of Olivia Hay, Stella Clayton-Greene, Beckie Leigh and Veronica Wall were also sixth in their A Final. Germany won in 6:30.15, New Zealand crossed the line in 6:42.50.
A sustained second 500m helped launch Katie Lush and Juliette Lequeux to victory in the B Final of the Women's Pair.
New Zealand was back in fourth place but only a length behind leaders Romania going through the first quarter of the race - by the 1000m they had their bow in front. It was a significant moment for the crew that was only put together a fortnight ago when Juliette came in for the injured Alice Fahey.
"I don't think we specifically attacked," says Juliette. "But we probably just kept finding each other more and more throughout that second 500."
"I saw we were moving a bit through Romania and that maybe gave us an extra push subconsciously too."
They also found something extra at the end, fighting off a challenge from the Neutral Athlete boat.
"The last 500 we managed to step on it again," says Juliette. "We just supported each other and were really consistent. Katie kept calling, 'Poised.'"
The squad now heads to a training camp in Varese, Italy, before heading to the second World Cup event which begins in Plovdiv, Bulgaria in a fortnight.
A sustained second 500m helped launch Katie Lush and Juliette Lequeux to victory in the B Final of the Women's Pair.
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
- /
- Sometimes a step...
Sometimes a step back is the best way forward
Time to think things over helps Kiwi crews to medals at World Cup.
New Zealand's won a gold and bronze medal on the final day of the season-opening World Cup regatta in Seville, Spain.
Ben Taylor and Oli Welch remain the world's number one Men's Pair after convincingly beating rivals Romania at the Guadalquivir River course.
The result confirmed what the data and the feeling in the boat before arriving in Europe had been telling the Kiwi pair, although they hadn't quite been able to uncork it in the last couple of weeks.
"The rhythm hasn't really been there," says Ben. "We've been struggling to find our way a little bit…we hadn't found that feeling we had back home in New Zealand."
They sat down on the eve of the final and tried to approach things a bit differently.
"We just kind of said let's stop trying to search for that feeling and just back ourselves. I think just trying to simplify our rowing a bit and simplify the mindset brought us together."
New Zealand led the Romanians by 1.63s at the 1000m mark and extended that lead to nearly three by the 1500m mark.
The Romanians made one last push with 200m to go, lifting to 45 strokes per minute. They made temporary inroads but there was no panic in the New Zealand boat and they crossed in 6:26.86. Romania took the silver in 6:29.46.
Ben Taylor and Oli Welch remain the world's number one Men's Pair after convincingly beating rivals Romania at the Guadalquivir River course.
The final day turned into landmark moments for Kate Haines and Ella Cossill from the Women's Four. Both have years of experience rowing at this level but one thing had eluded them.
"I've been waiting almost seven years to get a medal," says Kate. "The first thing Ella and I said to each other after the race was, 'Oh my God, we finally got a medal!'"
"We were really trying to soak it up together and remember how far we've come…you work so hard for these moments, so you need to make the most of them."
The Netherlands and Australia quickly established themselves as the frontrunners, New Zealand leading the rest of the six-boat field to finish in 6:43.24. The Netherlands won in 6:34.92, barely half a second up on the Australians.
Alana and Isla were part of the crew that won bronze at last year's world championships. Kate and Ella claimed their seats in the boat at trials in March.
Kate took a break from the sport after the Paris Olympics.
" I did about two months of training, and then just thought I actually need a break. I was pretty burnt out, just lost the spark a bit, lost the motivation."
She and Katie Lush, who's now in the Women's Pair, then decided to do a season of club rowing at Molesey in England.
"I just found the love for the sport again through being somewhere else, not training as hard, doing it for fun,” says Kate. “It was huge. I found my purpose again."
Ella Cossill, Kate Haines, Isla Blake and Alana Sherman after claiming bronze in the Women's Four.
The Men's Four of Fred Vavasour, Campbell Crouch, Harry Fitzpatrick and Josh Vodanovich were racing their first A Final at this level. The fours have become the priority boat for a lot of the big rowing nations while the New Zealand crew is still relatively young and inexperienced.
World champions Great Britain put on a masterclass to take the gold in 5.54.46. New Zealand was sixth in 6:09.19.
The Women's Quad of Olivia Hay, Stella Clayton-Greene, Beckie Leigh and Veronica Wall were also sixth in their A Final. Germany won in 6:30.15, New Zealand crossed the line in 6:42.50.
A sustained second 500m helped launch Katie Lush and Juliette Lequeux to victory in the B Final of the Women's Pair.
New Zealand was back in fourth place but only a length behind leaders Romania going through the first quarter of the race - by the 1000m they had their bow in front. It was a significant moment for the crew that was only put together a fortnight ago when Juliette came in for the injured Alice Fahey.
"I don't think we specifically attacked," says Juliette. "But we probably just kept finding each other more and more throughout that second 500."
"I saw we were moving a bit through Romania and that maybe gave us an extra push subconsciously too."
They also found something extra at the end, fighting off a challenge from the Neutral Athlete boat.
"The last 500 we managed to step on it again," says Juliette. "We just supported each other and were really consistent. Katie kept calling, 'Poised.'"
The squad now heads to a training camp in Varese, Italy, before heading to the second World Cup event which begins in Plovdiv, Bulgaria in a fortnight.
A sustained second 500m helped launch Katie Lush and Juliette Lequeux to victory in the B Final of the Women's Pair.
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.
