George Bridgewater beat the other half of the team that won the Halberg Award, Nathan Twaddle, as the pair went head to head at the national rowing championships at Lake Karapiro yesterday.
With a different teammate each, Bridgewater won the second heat of the coxless pair from his world championship partner in 7m 04.91s. Twaddle clocked 7m 11.50s.
Bridgewater partnered Matthew Trott for the Southern Regional Performance Centre (RPC) and, although struggling to keep a straight course, still managed to pull away from Twaddle and his Auckland RPC partner Steve Cottle.
Twaddle and Cottle will now return to race the repechage.
Bridgewater and Trott move into Saturday's final where they will be up against Sydney Olympian Rob Hellstrom, who is attempting to make a comeback into the national squad.
The open women's single showcased Caroline Evers-Swindell, rowing for Hamilton, who pulled away from visiting American Michelle Guerette.
Guerette, ranked third in the world in the single, races today's repechage.
The Auckland RPC men's eight romped home in heat one of the premier event over the RPC South crew made up of Canterbury and Dunedin rowers.
- NZPA
Rowing: One half of champion team beats the other
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