Rowing: Kiwis win four heats on day one of world champs

New Zealand rowers powered to four consecutive heat wins on the opening day of the world championships at Gifu in Japan yesterday.

The start, originally rescheduled for today, was brought forward to yesterday when a predicted typhoon failed to arrive.

However, the New Zealand contingent issued their own storm warning with some impressive performances. Only one crew, the men's coxless four, were forced into a repechage. It will be held tomorrow.

Men's single sculler Mahe Drysdale was first on the water and set the standard, coasting to victory in 6m 45.05s, almost 4s ahead of Australian David Crawshay.

Drysdale, an international rookie sculler who claimed a surprise silver medal at a World Cup regatta in July, took the lead at the 1000m mark and streaked out to be nearly 5s in front with 500m to row.

Drysdale's win gained him direct entry to Thursday's semifinal.

The women's coxless pair of Juliette Haigh and Nicky Coles also blitzed the opposition to progress directly to the final on Saturday.

Haigh and Coles led from the 500m mark to win in 7m 03.77s, with Romania a distant second in 7m 11.62s.

An Australian crew bettered Haigh and Coles' time in the first heat by 1.81s.

Yesterday's race was a continuation of the pair's top form following their double gold medal haul at World Cup regattas in Munich and Lucerne.

Fellow gold medallists from Lucerne, the men's coxless pair of George Bridgewater and Nathan Twaddle, were hardly tested in winning in 6m 26.60s, 6s ahead of Great Britain.

Unlike the women's coxless pair, the men still have a semifinal to contest on Thursday as they seek a place in the final.

Olympic double sculls champions Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell eased into Saturday's final, proving their single-sculls rowing stints this year have not dampened their combination.

The twins led from the first mark and won in 6m 46.16s. Italy were second in 6m 54.17s.

The Cambridge-based Evers-Swindells did not clock the fastest heat time, however.

The Bulgarian pair of Rumyana Neykova and Miglena Markova won heat two in 6m 43.46s.

The Bulgarians pipped the Evers-Swindells for gold at their last encounter at the Lucerne in July.

The men's coxless four - Donald Leach, Carl Meyer, Eric Murray and Steve Cottle - finished fourth in 5m 56.90s.

- NZPA