Rowing: Drysdale and Waddell into final

Mahe Drysdale. Photo / Kenny Rodger

Triple world champion Mahe Drysdale and former Olympic champion Rob Waddell yesterday qualified effortlessly for Saturday's singles sculls New Zealand Championships rowing final at Lake Karapiro.

Nathan Cohen ran Drysdale second and along with under-23 world champion Joseph Sullivan - runner-up to Waddell - will have to make his way to the final via a repechage. Drysdale was the faster of the two in the heats by just under 3.5s but neither would have been putting in quite the same effort as they will at the weekend.

Things didn't go as well for Caroline Evers-Swindell in the women's premier single scull event. The Olympic double scull champion suffered a rare defeat at the hands of top Australian sculler Pippa Savage. Racing after a heavy training schedule, Evers-Swindell will be confident of getting through the repechage today and being at her best for the final.

Young sculler Emma Twigg - an Olympic qualifier in Munich last year and the under-23 world champion - won the other heat but was significantly slower than Savage's 7m 51s.