KEY POINTS:
Rowing officials will turn the heat on the country's best oarsmen and women with a simple message this week: give us reasons to pick you for this year's world championships.
Having gone through a gruelling week of national championships at Twizel's Lake Ruataniwha, New Zealand's leading rowers now have a short break before the start of the national trials at Lake Karapiro on Friday.
And there's a giant-sized carrot looming before them. On March 8, elite, under 23 and junior squads will be named.
The elite group will have two World Cup regattas in Europe before heading for Munich at the world championships; the under 23s and juniors have their worlds in Strathclyde and Beijing respectively.
The elite worlds will double as Olympic qualification times, not for individuals but for countries to win spots for crews.
There are no guarantees, but get selected for this trip and rowers will realise they have the inside running for next year's Beijing Olympics.
"What we'll impress on the athletes when they turn up is 'Give us some really good reasons to pick you'," Rowing New Zealand high performance boss Andrew Matheson said last night.
"The ball is in their court to lay down some fast times and really stand out. It makes the job of the selectors so much easier and gives them far more options."
The selectors have been keeping an eye on those rowers who have been part of the RNZ summer squads. But plans are afoot to increase the elite fleet this year, providing performances at Lake Karapiro justify it.
"They do quite a bit of forward thinking. But if you look at the trialists there are quite good options there," Matheson said.
A total of 79 rowers will attend the trials, 41 men and 38 women, including four coxswain.
That number is slightly higher than usual, says Matheson. He puts that down to a larger number of lightweight rowers than in the past.
He liked much of what he saw at the nationals. Those who had been in the summer training squads stood out, as would be expected.
"Overall performances were not necessarily predictable, but on a par with what we expected," he said. "What we saw with the women was the winning crews were more dominant. There was closer racing in the men's.
"I'm not saying the women's performances were weak, but hopefully it's hinting at more depth in the men's programme. There was some really good racing."
Double world champion Mahe Drysdale, who had the potential to win six titles, finished with three, seeing off his highly promising training partner, Nathan Cohen of Invercargill, in the single sculls final by 3.9s.
Drysdale didn't think he'd been over-ambitious. "I love to race and physically I have felt fine," he said, and had words of praise for 21-year-old Cohen. "The way he attacks his racing is just awesome. He's really tough and has a great attitude."
The Boss Rooster trophy for the premier coxed four went to Waikato for the first time in nine years, seeing off Christchurch's Canaviron.
What's Coming Up
* New Zealand's elite and under-23 squads to compete in Europe this year will be named on March 8 after the national trials at Lake Karapiro.
* The elite squad depart on June 16 and will compete at World Cup regattas in Amsterdam (June 22-24) and Lucerne (July 13-15) before going to the world champs in Munich, starting August 26.
* The under-23 squad have their world champs in Strathclyde, Scotland from July 26-29.
* The junior squad will contest their world champs in Beijing, from August 8-11.
