KEY POINTS:
They are the odd men out in more ways than one, but Peter Taylor and Storm Uru have the capacity to show that timing can be everything.
When New Zealand's strong rowing contingent start their Olympic programme today on the Shunyi course, the lightweight double scullers will be sitting on the bank.
Ditto, should they make the final next weekend, they will race the day after the medals have been decided for the big names.
Assuming they make their final _ and the pre-regatta indicators are in their favour _ they can either use New Zealand's success 24 hours earlier as a spur, or if things have not gone to plan, have the chance to put a late coat of gloss on the campaign.
Taylor, 24, from Lower Hutt, and 23-year-old Uru, the pride of Invercargill, did things the hard way this year. They were selected after the Olympic trials at Lake Karapiro, edging out world champion lightweight single sculler Duncan Grant.
Their mission was to qualify at the final post, in Poznan, Poland in June. To do so they had to make the top three in the final.
A few weeks earlier, their chances looked bleak. At the opening World Cup regatta in Munich they couldn't even make the B final. But then it all came together. They were second in the Lucerne regatta to British pair Mark Hunter and Zac Purchase, who will start favourites for gold in Beijing.
When it came to Poznan, having got the cogs working efficiently, they won the final.
Taylor, who sits in the stroke seat, put Munich down to not being in sync. They knew they had speed from their work at Karapiro but could not find the right key to unlock the door in Germany.
In lightweight doubles, the average weight of the pair must be 70kg.
"We didn't quite get that nailed down and we suffered from that," Taylor said. "We sat down and thought we do not want a repeat. So we got stuck into good training after Munich."
One of the keys was sorting out their diet and fine-tuning training routines.
Still, the Lucerne result was a surprise? Yes and no, says Taylor.
"I was like `wow, that was really cool'. We knew we were fast but you can only affect how we go. We focused on our own boat and the speed came easily. But I didn't think we'd jump so quickly."
The target in Poznan was to win, not just make the top three.
"We learnt from Munich that when we don't race to win it doesn't go so well. Aiming for second or third we don't connect and end up doing different things."
This year two crews have come within a second of the Britons _ Taylor and Uru in Lucerne and the two-time world champion Danish pair Mads Rasmussen and Rasmus Quist.
That bodes well but Uru is cautious. He reckons of the 20 boats in their event, between eight and 10 could make the podium.
Each night Taylor and Uru have gone for a stroll, 30 to 40 minutes to make sure their weight is just right. And while they walk they talk.
"I said to Pete last night: `Thank God we're here.' It would have been another four years and we'd be getting up every morning and thinking, `gee, we wish we'd made it to Beijing'," Uru said.
The pair are at their first major international regatta in Beijing and "we'll just take it one race, one step at a time".
"But we won't be holding our cards close to our chest. We know we've got to put them all out there in the heats and semifinal," Uru added.
"The great thing is we get to pit our speed against the best in the world. And to be on the biggest sporting stage and gauge ourselves against them is what we've always wanted to do."
