KEY POINTS:
Mahe Drysdale will join an elite group in world rowing - and ruin the party for thousands of Germans - if he wins his final at the world championships today.
One of eight New Zealand crews in action at Munich, Drysdale's name is sure to feature if it is another big day on the dais for the black singlets, as was the case in 2005 and 2006.
And history beckons for the amiable Melbourne-born sculler.
No man has won three consecutive single sculls world titles since the championships began in 1962, and only one rower has snared more than three - German legend Peter-Michael Kolbe, who won five times between 1975 and 1986.
The showdown between Drysdale and local star Marcel Hacker will be a highlight of the regatta.
Most local media cover this week here has focused on extroverted 30-year-old Hacker, who lives beside the Oberschleissheim course and trains there daily.
He will be hugely supported by a crowd hoping there will be no repeat of last year's final in England, at which Drysdale came from behind to beat the German by a fraction of a second.
The pair raced in the semifinals but it was an anticlimax because Drysdale eased clear and was never challenged by his reluctant rival.
That played into the hands of Drysdale, who was battling a virus, but left questions over how much Hacker had in store.
"It's always hard to tell," said Drysdale.
"In front of his home crowd he could be great, but then again, he can be very average. So you never know quite what to expect from him."
Briton Alan Campbell, Czech Ondrej Synek and Norwegian Olaf Tufte were all capable of brilliance on their day as well, Drysdale said.
He was to spend yesterday in bed to battle his illness. He would normally be resting anyway, and hoped to be fizzing from his opening strokes today.
"This year I've done a lot of base work and I feel like I'm in pretty good shape," he said.
"It's a confidence. If I can go out there and race my best race, I'm going to be right in there."
Drysdale was the only New Zealand gold medallist at Eton a year ago, but four others won minor medals and are now at Munich seeking better.
Lightweight single sculler Duncan Grant is probably the soundest bet after his dominant form this year.
The men's pair of Nathan Twaddle and George Bridgewater once again confront the brick wall of the Australian pair, Drew Ginn and Duncan Free, who consigned the New Zealanders to silver last year.
Juliette Haigh and Nicola Coles will be in a closely fought women's pair final.
Their coach Dick Tonks was most concerned about Olympic champions Georgeta Damian-Andrunache and Viorica Susanu, of Romania, who have come back from retirement.
The New Zealanders pipped them in their heat but suspect some foxing was taking place.
Tonks' other crew, sisters Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell, face an enormous challenge from Chinese sensations Li Qin and Liang Tian.
The twins should claim a sixth world championships medal, but may need to surprise the Chinese tactically to get their fourth gold.
The men's four of Carl Meyer, James Dallinger, Eric Murray and Hamish Bond also appear right on the pace and it would be a surprise if they don't finish in the top three.
The feelgood stories of the semifinals, single sculler Emma Twigg and the men's double of Matthew Trott and Nathan Cohen, may find the going too tough when more experienced rivals put the foot down.
- NZPA
