KEY POINTS:
Of the 10 crews New Zealand will send on this year's world championship rowing campaign, none has as fascinating a situation as the lightweight men.
The reason? Unlike all other crews, who have a set number of rowers for each boat - essentially they know their races for the next three months - the lightweights have a four-into-three-won't-go situation.
And that has invested the contest between the four with an understandable touch of tension. Not anxiety, not grumpiness, just the knowledge that one of them won't be going to the world championships in Munich in late August.
Here's the position: Graham Oberlin-Brown and Peter Taylor won the world under-23 lightweight double title last year. They are in the elite squad boat and will have first dibs on trying to qualify New Zealand for next year's Beijing Olympics when they get to Munich.
Then there's Marlborough's Duncan Grant and Storm Uru from Invercargill, the single seat scullers, who will contest the World Cup regattas at Amsterdam from June 22-24 and Lucerne from July 13-15.
However, only one of them will get in a boat at Munich, where NZ can enter only one single representative.
And there's no lightweight single on the Olympic programme, so it could become a four-into-two scenario next year.
It's an intriguing dynamic. However, it's not entirely out of the question that Uru and Grant can throw out a solid challenge for a spot in the double in Beijing.
"It's not always the case that the best singles make the best doubles," Calvin Ferguson, coach of all four lightweights, said.
"The two fastest singles are doing the singles, the other two are definitely third and fourth [in the single] but they're a good combination.
"But the door is still open for the double next year."
Uru, the world under-23 champion last year, is still eligible for the age group event but has not given it a thought. His sights are on the elite championships. So too Grant, who produced a terrific performance last year.
Not selected in the initial squad, he went away, worked hard, got a late call up, made the world championship final and won the bronze, totally justifying his selection.
Ferguson pointed out all four are top-class rowers, therefore they are training in strong company, which is ideal preparation for what lies ahead.
"There is a little bit of tension but I haven't seen any animosity," he said.
"It's just about dealing with it as best they can and me as coach helping them through it."
Uru concurred. "The fact we're all good mates off the water is good," he said. "On the water, we're out there to win. The hardest thing is keeping your mind on your own boat and not worrying about what everyone else is doing, having the belief in yourself and that the way you're going is good."
They all know they can benefit from their time together. All won medals last year, all need encouragement, attention and fine-tuning.
Ferguson tries to spend time with all of them individually and he sees a long-term benefit from the present situation.
"The good thing is it's cut-throat now and it'll be cut-throat at the worlds, so they've got to step up. Either one of those guys could win at the worlds. It's tough but they are mentally and physically tough enough to achieve it."
After the two World Cup regattas, Uru and Grant - unless one is demonstrably in stronger form than the other - will have a row-off to sort out the world champs spot.
If Uru is chosen, Grant heads home; if Grant goes to Munich, Uru will defend his title at the under-23 championships in Strathclyde, Scotland, from July 26-29.
As for Te Awamutu's Oberlin-Brown and Aucklander Taylor, there are no guarantees either, but Ferguson admitted they are in the box seat - for now.
The top 11 crews in the double sculls at Munich qualify their country for Beijing but the New Zealand selectors will want a strong performance. Expectations are high. Tenth is unlikely to cut it; a top-six finish would.
The squad fly to Europe next Saturday.
