Rowing: Kiwis to miss duel with Brit stars

Eric Murray and Hamish Bond. Photo / Getty Images

The E.coli outbreak in Europe and a lack of strong rowing competition means Hamish Bond and Eric Murray will learn less than they had hoped at the world cup in Hamburg this weekend.

The New Zealand men's pair race their final tomorrow morning after blitzing home in their heat just five seconds outside the world's best time yesterday. However, the decision by the Great Britain team to opt out of the event because of an E.coli outbreak means they will not get a chance to race key rivals Andrew Triggs-Hodge and Peter Reed.

The Kiwis have beaten the Brits 12 times since they formed as a pair in 2009, but the racing is close and has become one of the drawcards on the international rowing circuit. Triggs-Hodge and Reed were Olympic gold medallists as part of a coxless four at the Beijing Olympics.

Recent reports claim the E.coli outbreak has killed 39 and made over 3400 people ill. It was traced back to infected bean spouts in northern Germany. All forms of salad have been off the New Zealand rowing team's menu as a consequence. Murray says they took sound medical advice.

"We were worried when we came to Hamburg and read up on what it can do. It would be a season-ending illness but the organisers assured us everything would be okay because they'd been working with the German ministry of health to make it hunky-dory.

"Food-wise it's been great - getting to eat more meat and pasta and staying off the greens is great in my book. Mind you, it's a shame the Brits aren't here. We love racing and beating them. I thought it might have been premature to pull out, but that's their decision."

Britain's rowing performance director David Tanner says it is a chance they could not take.

"With so many deaths and lifetime problems [like kidney failure] attached to survival, we were not prepared to take the risk. If one athlete went down, we would feel like we had done the wrong thing. It's my responsibility and I'm comfortable with that."

Tanner says the men's pair, who won at the Munich world cup last month, are going, "very fast, thank you. Let the gladiatorial battle commence again".

Murray is also concerned about 2008 Olympic silver medallists Dave Calder and Scott Frandsen of Canada. They have returned to the sport after beating the previous New Zealand pair, George Bridgewater and Nathan Twaddle, into bronze in Beijing. Calder and Frandsen are likely to compete at the world cup in Lucerne, Switzerland starting July 8 before the world championships in Bled, Slovenia starting August 28.

"I've heard those two have gone well in training and are one of Canada's priority crews, so the focus of the rivalry could change."

Meanwhile Kiwis Ben Hammond and Chris Harris have moved into the coxless four with Carl Meyer and James Dallinger after the crew suffered a number of injuries. They won their heat to go to the final. Former crew members Tobias Wehr-Candler and Ian Seymour have moved into the eight.