KEY POINTS:
The battle for the men's singles sculls berth at next year's Olympics will be a summer-long duel between former world and Olympic champion Rob Waddell and current world champion Mahe Drysdale.
Waddell's win over Drysdale in a pre-season regatta on Sunday has set the scene for an epic contest between the pair culminating in the national championships in late February.
But selection for Beijing will not ride solely on a one-off showdown at the nationals.
Rowing New Zealand high performance manager Andrew Matheson said while the nationals will have a major bearing on selection, a number of other factors will also be considered.
The pair's progress will be monitored with out-of-water testing and regattas throughout the season.
"They're just coming through their base training and a lot of the harder racing when we'll really get a feel of where they're at, will be later in the season," Matheson said. "All the athletes work through our selection process which includes some more erg testing and a specific small boat regatta we have in late January, then we move through to nationals and name our squad for trials so there's still a long way to go and lots to do."
Rowing New Zealand plan to make their nominations to the New Zealand Olympic Committee following their week-long trials in March.
Matheson said Waddell's win over a world-class field, including Drysdale, at the weekend's KRI 1 pre-season regatta in Karapiro would have little bearing on the selectors decision.
What it did allow though was Rowing New Zealand to get their first real gauge of where both scullers are at.
It was also the first opportunity for Drysdale to get a feel of the progress Waddell has made with his comeback.
If Drysdale was not feeling the pressure before, he certainly will be now.
The three-time world champion went in to the regatta with limited preparation having only had a light work-load since claiming the world title in Munich in August.
Matheson said there is still plenty of opportunity for Drysdale to go back and assess his training and race strategy. "There's a long way to go. From an athlete's perspective there's always pride on the line every time they step out and race, said Matheson.
"It'll give each of the athletes a bit of a feel for where they're at, they'll work on a few things they perhaps want to work on in their race strategy, and we'll see some more racing over the rest of the season and see how everyone progresses."
