Rowing: Milk trucks prove pivotal to plans

Those in the Waipa district may well have witnessed some odd scenes lately.

Residents in the rowing stronghold are used to spotting the Evers-Swindell twins having brunch or Mahe Drysdale taking his dog Oslo for a walk - but these goings-on have been more subtle.

Thermal-clad figures have been out at the crack of dawn with clipboards and riding in cars clicking stopwatches - peering at milk trucks and timing journeys down to the last second.

It's all part of the preparations for the rowing world championships which start at Karapiro in October.

The end of the North Island secondary school championships last month means the Karapiro 2010 organising body now has free rein to prepare for the international season climax on New Zealand shores.

Along with February's national championship, it has been a chance to observe new facilities in action while others such as the media and service centres continue to be built.

The area has been subject to considerable scrutiny - 18 international teams have already been for detailed reconnaissance.

Karapiro 2010 chief executive Tom Mayo has even commissioned people to go into the heart of the Waikato to monitor the volume of milk trucks in peak hours.

That's so he can ascertain exactly how much they will disturb the flow of athletes , officials and media to his venue.

"We've also been timing routes with buses because we can't produce any realistic test that is going to compare to what strikes us on day one," he says.