Rowing: Failure of eight will force rethink for Rowing NZ

Lightweight single scull Duncan Grant. Photo / Christine Cornege

Some hard thinking lies ahead for Rowing New Zealand in the wake of a disappointing world championships performance by the men's eight.

The eight needed to win their B final in Bled, Slovenia last night to qualify among the top seven crews for the London Olympic Games next year.

However they trailed in fourth in 5min 39.89s, over three seconds behind winners Ukraine, who took the one spot available out of the race for London.

The New Zealand eight - Nicholas Pusinelli, Tyson Williams, Adam Tripp, Tobias Wehr-Candler, Ian Seymour, Sean O'Neill, Hamish Burson, David Eade and cox Ivan Pavich - made a big push at the 1000m mark, jumping from sixth to second in the space of 500m, but drifted back in the final stages.

RNZ are keen to revive the eights boat, regarded among the blue riband events in the sport.

However the final chance will come at a World Cup regatta in Europe next year, should RNZ decide it's worth the expense.

Former world lightweight single sculler Duncan Grant won his semifinal last night to progress to his final in the non-Olympic discipline.

Grant won in 7:08.87s, having led from the halfway stage.

He was almost 1s ahead of Italy's Pietro Ruta with Britain's Adam Freeman-Pask third.

Dane Henrik Stephansen, Grant's strongest rival, won the other semifinal in 7:07.37.

New Zealand's adaptive single sculler Danny McBride finished fourth in his semifinal and missed the A final.