Rowing: Rowers set to hit form in Europe

By JULIE ASH

National women's coach Richard Tonks is confident Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell can smash their own double sculls world record during their European campaign.

New Zealand's elite rowing team leave for Europe on Saturday where they will compete in the final World Cup event in Switzerland starting on July 11, before heading to Italy for the world championships in August. In between they will spend a month training in Belgium.

The Evers-Swindells broke the world record in last year's world championships in Spain to claim the world title in a time of 6m 38.78s.

However, if the conditions are right, Tonks believes the twins could go under 6m 36s.

"They should be able to do 6m 36s - two seconds under the world record," Tonks said.

Along with the double sculls the Evers-Swindells will team with Paula Twining and Jo Byrne in the quadruple sculls.

The elite team also includes a coxless four of Donald Leach, Carl Meyer, Mahe Drysdale and Ian Smallman, a men's coxless pair of Rob Hellstrom and Nathan Twaddle, a women's coxless pair of Kate Robinson and Jackie Abraham, and a men's lightweight double scull of Duncan Grant and Nathan Terrey.

Single sculler Sonia Waddell has returned to the sport after the birth of her daughter and will compete in the world championships, while Caroline Steel will compete in the lightweight single sculls at the World Cup.

With little international competition throughout the year, Caroline Evers-Swindell said that analysing the results from the first two World Cup events was one way of gauging where their opponents were at.

"We can look at the times they are doing, but those times all depend on the weather, so it is hard," she said. "However, it is good to see what kind of combinations they are trying out."

The 24 year-old doesn't think a lack of international competition will disadvantage the New Zealanders.

"We have managed to find crews that kind of go the same speed as each other. They may not be the same kind of boats, but we race guys' fours or girls' fours, and it goes really well."

With the world championships a qualifying event for next year's Olympic Games, the Evers- Swindells have plenty to row for.

In the double sculls there are eight Olympic spots up for grabs and seven in the quadruple sculls.

Having missed out on selection for the 2000 Olympics after a disastrous run at the world champs, the Evers-Swindells know what it feels like to have their hopes and dreams come crashing down around them.

"We won the World Cup race," Tonks said. "Then we went down to Lucerne to the world champs and they probably had their worst two races ever. Somewhere along the line we got something wrong.

"I think it has motivated them and made them a lot more determined. But it just takes time. It generally takes about four or five years for a rower to get to their best."

The Ever-Swindells' toughest competition in the double sculls is likely to come from the German team which includes Olympic champion Kathrin Boron, who is also returning to the sport after having a baby.

"We are looking forward to having a go against her and it would be really good to beat her," Tonks said.

"Each year it gets harder and harder. The standards, the training levels, the times, form - everything increases."