Rowing: Lake closed for work so team head off

New Zealand might be hosting the world championships this year but the Kiwi team have limited access to Lake Karapiro in the lead up - and will train in Australia.

Ironically the water most of the team train on for most of their careers will be out of action as organisers ready the course for an influx of athletes, officials and spectators from October 31-November 7.

The team will instead head to Australia from September 29-October 17 to train on Penrith Lakes, the venue where Rob Waddell won gold at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and where some trained ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

"Logistically this is the best option because a lot of the time the lake will be closed for on-water preparation," says Rowing New Zealand chief executive Simon Peterson.

"A 10,000-seat grandstand also needs to be built over six weeks and we will be receiving a lot of the overseas boats at that point too. Everybody has been bracing for the impact as construction and preparation heat up.

"The decision will also give athletes some breathing space in the build-up. It will help take some of the focus off them ahead of competition. It is not affecting our costs too much because normally the team would spend extra time in Europe most seasons."

RNZ employed a similar policy at the same venue before the 2008 Beijing Games. Double sculler Nathan Cohen was part of that campaign, eventually finishing fourth with Waddell in his Olympic comeback.

"We went there five weeks before the Games because it is arguably one of the best training venues in the world. I like the idea because it keeps the team in a similar pre-regatta training environment to what we're used to overseas. There's no problem leaving Lake Karapiro behind, we do a lot of kilometres there and a change is as good as a break."

Cohen and his third partner in three years, Joseph Sullivan, are in Lucerne with the rest of the team for the final World Cup of the season this weekend. They have made some subtle changes to their technique after a sluggish start to the campaign - winning the B final in their opening World Cup at Munich. Cohen and Sullivan then lost to the winners of that regatta, Matthew Wells and Marcus Bateman of Great Britain, in the second round at Henley, albeit by just half a length.

"It's disappointing we haven't kicked on with the form we had before leaving New Zealand. Joseph is coping okay and I know we've got the speed to push the fastest boats in the world. We're doing it in training, now we need to put it on the course to get to the pointy end of the field.

"The trouble comes when top crews like the French and British push the pace in the first 1000 metres," Cohen said. "It's hard to hold on."

After this regatta the New Zealand team return home. Further trials to determine the final world championship crews will be held in the first week of August. Single sculler Emma Twigg came home early citing fatigue.