Kiwi rower James O'Connor is intent on making a statement to New Zealand Rowing at the Great Race today.
This year's race on the Waikato River is between Waikato, Harvard, Washington and Melbourne Universities.
O'Connor, who will row for Harvard, was told by Rowing New Zealand recently that he was too small for the national programme.
O'Connor said he has been fuelled by the rejection and hopes an impressive performance today will go some way to helping him represent New Zealand in the future.
"It'll be really nice to kind of show that going over to the States and doing all this other international rowing stuff hasn't hindered my performance at all," he said.
