KEY POINTS:
Lightweight sculler Duncan Grant's golden European summer continued as New Zealand opened their campaign in slick style at the world rowing championships last night (NZT).
The first of eight New Zealanders on the water, Grant won his heat in comfortable fashion to advance automatically to Thursday's semifinals.
In hot, calm conditions at the Oberschleissheim course, Grant raced to the front and eased off notably in the second half to win in 7m 5.63s, more than 5s clear of Briton Alasdair Leighton-Crawford. Only American Ivan Baldychev was quicker today, qualifying in 7m 4.84s.
Grant has been untouchable in Europe this season, winning gold at both World Cup regattas entered, in Amsterdam in June and Lucerne last month. But he is the only New Zealander this week not chasing a berth at next year's Beijing Olympic Games as his class isn't an Olympic one.
Grant is applying pressure on the lightweight double sculls crew of Peter Taylor and Graham Oberlin-Brown, who failed to reach the A final at either World Cup.
The double is an Olympic class and, even if Taylor and Oberlin-Brown qualify the boat this week for Beijing, their own selection is not guaranteed.
- NZPA
