Rowing: Black singlets again centre stage

A new dynamic is at play within the New Zealand rowing squad.

This time last year Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell, as Olympic double scull champions, were the headline act in a New Zealand contingent regarded as strong but yet to truly deliver on the big stage.

That promise was fulfilled at Gifu, Japan, in September when four gold medals were won at the world championships within 45 remarkable minutes.

So now, New Zealand, rather than being merely one of the better-regarded countries doing the rounds in Europe, are the centre of attention.

For the Evers-Swindells, it is nothing new. They were already three-times world champions before their Athens gold. Old hat for the Hawkes Bay twins.

But for coxless pairs Nathan Twaddle and George Bridgewater, and Nicky Coles and Juliette Haigh, and single sculler Mahe Drysdale it was fresh ground.

Yet while their rivals might be eyeing their moves more closely than in past years, the New Zealanders haven't changed their outlook or philosophy.

"Generally, it's business as usual," Drysdale said of the atmosphere within the squad, which this year has grown to include a women's eight, the men's coxless four and an under-23 coxed four.

"Dick (head coach Dick Tonks) doesn't treat us any differently for being world champions. It's still the same as before. We still try to push each other to get the most out of each other."

Drysdale differs from his squad mates in that they took some time out at the end of last year. He headed to Britain for more regattas after the world championships. He reckons he's had about 10 days out of the boat since Japan.

If he has been doing it tough since the worlds, he is not complaining, and he's had a taste of what the others will be experiencing from his time inBritain. He knows there are expectations.

"I'm not going to treat it any differently just because people are watching you.

"You do what you can and hope that's good enough to win. The one advantage is they're all quite concerned about you. They don't know how fast we're going, but they know you can go quickly and that's a mental advantage."

Drysdale wants to win every time he plonks himself in his boat. But he knows it is not always going to happen, and as long as he takes something positive from being beaten, he'll live with that - at least as long as it happens before the world champs - not at them.

Important lessons can be gleaned from defeat. Drysdale learned a crucial lesson in Lucerne at a cup regatta last year. He was beaten into second by Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic. Drysdale reckoned it was the best race he'd ever produced and it still wasn't enough to win.

"Had I won in Lucerne, I think I'd have found it tough to win in Japan. In Lucerne, there was nothing more I could give.

"I'd given everything and I'd lost. It was absolutely devastating and it fired me into gear, that I had to find something more."

When New Zealand triumphed in Gifu, Drysdale, a 27-year-old who is easy to spot at 2.01m, was among the most bullish of the contingent. He had been brought up on tales of the black singlet being among the most feared symbols in world rowing in the 1980s.

And he figured it was overdue for a return to those good old days.

"I know the black shirt this year is extremely feared from talking to a few of the guys over here. All the talk in Munich (at the first cup regatta last month, which New Zealand did not attend) was 'we haven't seen the New Zealanders yet. How are the New Zealanders going?'

"It's a great advantage going over when they know they might have won that regatta but haven't faced what they see as the best in the world."

The upshot was that Drysdale arrived at the second cup regatta at Poznan, Poland, last weekend and won, as did the Evers-Swindells. The others have yet to hit their stride.

In his discipline, Drysdale knows it will get tougher as the world champs come closer, as rowers fine tune their programmes to peak at Eton for the worlds starting on August 20.

The philosophy is do the hard work, to leave nothing in the cupboard. What other crews do is out of your control.

"The twins and (2000 Olympic champion) Rob Waddell have obviously done a great job in the last few years. Once they won, they haven't been beaten.

"A lot of competitors start to question whether they can win. If you don't beat someone you do end up wondering, 'Can I actually beat them?'

Drysdale wants to carry on that whiff of dominance at Eton. The Lucerne cup regatta starts on July 7, then, after a few weeks preparation at Racice in the Czech Republic and in Belgium, it's on to Eton.

His aim is simple. "I know I'm going faster than last year. If I've improved a couple of seconds, they're going to have to improve by four or five seconds. If they've done that, I'm not going to win, but if they haven't I'm confident of staying where I am."