KEY POINTS:
A silver medal by 0.02s at this year's rowing world championships may have saved the Evers-Swindell double sculling combination.
Rowing New Zealand high performance manager Andrew Matheson has confirmed that, conditional on their trial form and fitness in March, Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell no longer face being split ahead of the Olympic Games.
This follows Matheson's meeting with the selectors and high performance commissioner Alan Cotter after the championships.
Emma Twigg's Olympic qualification in the single scull, combined with the twins' second to Great Britain in the heats and second to eventual world champions China in the semis, had the selectors weighing up change.
It raised the prospect of Caroline and Georgina racing off as New Zealand's fastest single scullers. Twigg would have then joined the slower of the twins in the double. Matheson says this idea has been shelved in favour of selection consistency and Olympic experience.
"Emma's performance is a huge windfall for the programme and gives us options but our chances of double sculling success are far higher with a combination that's won Olympic gold, not to mention medals at every major regatta since 2001."
Matheson says they've also assessed the possibility a switch in crew could provide an extra medal.
"Other sports might jump at the chance to turn one medal into two but, to us, gold is worth so much more than any combination of the others. Rowing New Zealand's about excellence and I still believe that Caroline and Georgina give us every chance of that."
However, the Evers-Swindells coach Dick Tonks is careful to point out no athletes are guaranteed Beijing spots, even Olympic champions.
"All combinations are up for renewal but you've got to remember incumbents have time and experience together and have to be beaten consistently at trials. For anyone to match the twins would still take some doing in six months' time."
The twins could not be contacted as they enjoy a well-deserved break but have previously stated they're reluctant to part, especially verging on back-to-back Olympic gold medals - a New Zealand rowing feat only previously achieved by oarsman Dick Joyce and coxswain Simon Dickie in 1968 and 1972.
On other rowing matters, the selectors have opted to take the women's eight to the "Regatta of Death" Olympic qualification next June despite the crew finishing last of nine at the world championships.
Five nations qualified this year with just two further spots available. This option has been chosen over the cost-saving measure of trying to qualify a quadruple sculls combination from within the same crew.
The men's eight, who are currently 13th in the world, will also return to Europe seeking the eighth and final Olympic spot.
A lightweight double sculling combination will try to qualify for Beijing as well. Incumbents Peter Taylor and Graham Oberlin-Brown failed to qualify this year and face a battle for re-selection against lightweight single world champion Duncan Grant and under-23 world champion Storm Uru.
The summer squad, with the addition of under-23 world champion single sculler Joseph Sullivan, begins training at Lake Karapiro tomorrow.
