Day Two Racing Dominated by Two Countries

Day two of racing at the 2010 World Rowing Championships saw New Zealand and Great Britain take ten wins each on Lake Karapiro.

The first race of the day, and the first win for Great Britain was in the women’s quadruple sculls.

“It was quite a race to the wire.  I must admit I wasn’t sure who had it when we crossed the line.  It was quite a relief it was us,” said Annabel Vernon, stroke of the Great Britain crew.

Great Britain also took out the first race of the next event, the men’s lightweight double sculls.  But it was the New Zealand crew of Pete Taylor and Storm Uru that got the crowd on their feet.  They took away New Zealand’s first win of the day.

Clear rivalry between the two top performing countries of the day is in the men’s pair.  Both crews took one move closer to their final showdown of the year today, both winning their heats.

“We stuck to our race plan, stuck to our own boat and we pushed away right from the get go. Just tried to keep it consistent and get to the finish line in the most economic way possible,” said Hamish Bond, stroke of the New Zealand pair.

The best men’s single scullers in the world then took centre stage.

Ondrej Synek from the Czech Republic showed the form that has taken him to four World Cup victories this season, posting a comfortable win.

“I expect a tough final because those guys are very foxy, and I don’t know what to expect from them. Every race is different, every race is hard so I will row, I will do my best and we will see,” said Synek.

Alan Campbell, from Great Britain progressed directly to the semi-finals, as did reigning World Champion Mahe Drysdale. 

“It was good to blow out the lungs and the legs, and remember what it feels like to be out there racing at the international level, Drysdale.

Read the full story on the World Rowing Championships 2010 website.