Rowing New Zealand head into unique territory tonight as their campaign to qualify all 14 Olympic-class boats begins at the world championships in Aiguebelette, France.
They have never completed the feat. Their best effort came at London 2012 when 11 crews qualified - only the eights and a lightweight four were not represented.
New Zealand are in the perfect position to try. If the results from last month's Lucerne World Cup were translated to Olympic berths, every crew would have qualified their respective boats for Rio.
They also secured nine medals - five gold, three silver and one bronze - in Olympic class events.
Further underlining a stellar year in rowing, New Zealand won the trophy for overall World Cup champions across three regattas, despite competing at only two, put both the men's and women's eight on the podium for the first time at the same World Cup regatta and had representation in 12 of the 14 Olympic-class finals. The men's lightweight double sculls and coxless four were the exceptions.
