KEY POINTS:
The selection waters are about to get a whole lot choppier for Rowing New Zealand.
The pressure point will be the lightweights, where Duncan Grant and Storm Uru have dominated the non-Olympic singles, while Graham Oberlin-Brown and Peter Taylor have struggled in the Olympic-class doubles.
Grant will be
New Zealand's representative in the singles at the world champs in Munich next month but there is a groundswell of opinion he and Uru should team up in the double ahead of the Olympics next year.
The double has to finish in the top 11 at Munich - a relatively soft standard - to qualify the boat for Beijing. While putting Grant in the double might help, selectors do not want to jeopardise his chances of winning in the single.
If the double does not qualify next month, then RNZ faces the unwanted prospect of having to send a crew to Lucerne next year in a last-ditch bid to qualify.
National selector Athol Earl said various combinations were sent out at the national trials "and this was the strongest combination, but it was close".
RNZ high performance manager Andrew Matheson, just back from Europe, said four into two won't go but competition was healthy.
"It's why we keep building Storm Uru and Duncan Grant. The best opportunity to get that double going really fast is to have competition for seats. That's what Storm and Duncan will clearly be targeting when we get through to trials next year. There's four people for two spots, everyone is aware of that, and it can only be a positive thing for our sport," Matheson said.
The first concern is qualifying the boat. Matheson said the current pair had made a giant step up from Amsterdam to Lucerne. He was expecting another step up at Munich. They made the 'B' final in Lucerne but in Amsterdam, qualified for the 'C' final only.
"It's been a little bit bigger step up than they probably anticipated but they now clearly understand what they're up against.
"We've still got another five weeks before Munich and I'm comfortable they can go up another notch and their target must be the 'A' final," Matheson said.
As the double is an Olympic class, the fields tend to be stronger, but Grant and Uru's performance was a revelation for the selectors.
Uru's omission from the Munich squad was a tough call, but he has left for Strathclyde, Scotland, where he will be hot favourite to retain his under-23 gold.
Other crews that have to lift the pace to qualify for the Olympics are the men's and women's eights, although once again RNZ has been cheered by their improvement from Amsterdam to Lucerne.
The excellent form of the women's double, women's pair, men's pair, men's single, men's four and men's double should ensure plenty of crews for Beijing next year.
