The New Zealand rowers have sent a stern warning to their Olympic rivals by bagging 10 medals from 10 finals on the last day of racing at the World Cup in Poland.
Single sculler Mahe Drysdale Photo: Photosport
Perfect conditions greeted the world's top rowers at Lake Malta for what would be the final chance for crews to test each other before August's Rio Olympic Games.
All 10 New Zealand boats that will compete in Rio claimed medals - five gold, three silver and two bronze - adding to the gold medal won yesterday by World Champion Zoe McBride in the lightweight women's single sculls.
In the women's pair A final Genevieve Behrent and Rebecca Scown pushed Olympic champions Helen Glover and Heather Stanning hard claiming silver just 1.6 seconds behind the British pair.
There were no surprises in the men's pair as Hamish Bond and Eric Murray asserted their dominance yet again winning gold in a time of 6:18.58, over a length ahead of Australia's Spencer Turrin and Alexander Lloyd.
Eric Murray told Bridget Tunnicliffe it's who can time their run into Rio with the way they train and the way they peak over the next six weeks, that'll most likely be successful. He said he and Bond know what the benchmark is.
World Champions Sophie Mackenzie and Julia Edward ended an eventful regatta with a bronze medal in the lightweight women's double sculls with a time of 6:50.65. Despite an impressive surge the duo were unable to match the searing pace of the Dutch crew who snatched gold with a new world best time of 6:47.69. The Danish combination won silver.
The lightweight men's four combination of James Hunter, Alistair Bond, reserve Matt Dunham and James Lassche claimed another resounding victory. The New Zealanders crossed the line in a time of 5:48.34, with a clear water advantage over Denmark in silver and Great Britain in bronze.
Robbie Manson and Chris Harris one-upped their silver medal at the previous World Cup by winning gold in emphatic style in the men's double sculls event. The British duo of Jonathan Walton and John Collins made an early break and gained a clear water advantage but were hunted down in the last few hundred metres by the New Zealanders and had to settle for silver.
World Champions Eve Macfarlane and Zoe Stevenson took a conservative approach to the start of the women's double sculls event but patiently picked their way through the field to claim silver. Poland's Magdalena Fularczyk and Natalia Madaj rowed to an impressive gold, while France's Helene Lefebvre and Elodie Ravera-Scaramozzino chased to grab bronze.
The men's single sculls turned into a two-man battle between Olympic Champion Mahe Drysdale and European Champion Damir Martin of Croatia. Head to head for most of the course, Martin couldn't match the decisive move by Drysdale who claimed gold in a time of 6:37.81.
New Zealand were guaranteed a medal with just three boats contesting the women's eight event but the New Zealand crew ensured that the race would not be a walkover as they put the pressure on an experienced British crew and powered ahead to add another gold to the table. The Netherlands took the bronze.
In one of the most anticipated races of the day 2014 World Champion women's single sculler Emma Twigg had to settle for silver as reigning World Champion Kimberly Brennan of Australia won gold with a clear water advantage over a stacked field.
In the final event of the day New Zealand took bronze in a hotly contested men's eight, while Germany and Great Britain surged ahead and fought a tight tussle to the line to win gold and silver respectively.
The New Zealand elite rowing team will now remain in Europe to train before travelling to Brazil for the Rio Olympic Games.
