KEY POINTS:
Rob Waddell has blitzed world champion Mahe Drysdale in winning the national rowing single sculls title at Lake Karapiro.
Waddell raced out to an early lead which Drysdale was never able to close, eventually winning by around three boat lengths.
Both men desperately want the single seat
in Beijing in August. Only one can go. However the crunch will come next week when the trials for all rowers in contention for trips to the Games take place at Lake Karapiro.
Waddell is reading little into his commanding victory over his Olympic rival.
He said it was too hard to make too big a judgement because everyone was aiming for the trials, and the conditions were not ideal either.
The 2000 Olympic champion said he was just glad to have completed the race in one piece - although winning was a bonus.
The story so far is this: the pair have had three head-to-head races before today's.
Waddell, the 2000 Olympic champion, won the first two; Drysdale, winner of the last three world titles, won the third. The margin between the pair is desperately small.
The trials start next Friday. The format is that all triallists will do tests on rowing machines before on-the-water racing starts two days later.
In the case of the single scull - and not to forget fast-rising young contender Nathan Cohen - there will be three races, Sunday, Monday and, if needed, Tuesday.
The squad for Beijing is due to be announced on March 7.
All along, Rowing New Zealand officials have stressed that the outcome of the trials is paramount. So, hypothetically, if Waddell was to win today, it won't necessarily mean he gets the single seat if Drysdale proves superior at the trials.
Other high class rowers, including several world champions, are in action at the national championships this weekend, but it's the battle of the big men which has had top billing.
The physical differences between the pair are marked. Waddell, having done several years with Team New Zealand on America's Cup duty, has a strong muscular physique; Drysdale is the leaner of the two, whose fierce competitiveness shone through in two of his world titles where he had to dig deep over the final 500m.
Ever since winning his third world title - not forgetting Waddell won two world crowns in 1998 and 1999 - his sights have been set on gold in Beijing. Then Waddell announced his intention to have another crack at the Games.
The pair have got on with the racing, but such is their unyielding determination, it should not surprise if there is a hint of an edge at the trials.
Both have set out their stall. Waddell, after the loss to Drysdale, said he still had some petrol in the tank "so we'll see what happens at the business end of the season" - ie, over the next week.
Drysdale, after winning that third race, admitted: "I'm usually quite vulnerable early in the season and get better as it goes on."
The national selectors Conrad Robertson, Dick Tonks and Athol Earl have interesting choices to make. Whoever misses the single seat should be a boost for another crew.
Then there's the coxless four who won the world title in Munich last year. Should they be retained as a unit? Double scullers Cohen and Matthew Trott qualified their boat for Beijing. Do they warrant sticking together to see the job through?
There are hard calls all over the place in a sport which high performance boss Andrew Matheson admitted has "an abundance of talent".
- With NEWSTALK ZB
