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MUNICH - The two brightest young stars of New Zealand rowing came of age at the world championships here today, booking semifinal berths with performances of authority.
Emma Twigg and Nathan Cohen also stroked closer to places at next year's Olympic Games, something both could confirm in the
semifinals on Thursday.
As expected, two-time world champion Mahe Drysdale cruised through his quarterfinal, winning comfortably from good friend and training partner Alan Campbell of Great Britain.
There was less certainty surrounding women's sculler Twigg and the men's double scull of Cohen and Matthew Trott who both needed top-three quarterfinal finishes.
Both crews were second and appeared to have more gas in the tank.
Twigg cruised behind China's Xiuyun Zhang, clocking the second-fastest time of the 24 scullers, placing herself ahead of multiple world champion Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus and classy Czech Mirka Knapkova.
The Napier 20-year-old was finding it hard to comprehend her rapid rise after being a late addition to the New Zealand team courtesy of winning the world under-23 crown in Scotland last month.
"It's kind of surreal out there when you're warming up and the likes of Karsten and Knapkova are alongside you," she told NZPA.
"I'm really stoked to get to the semis. My aim now is Olympic qualification."
To qualify for Beijing next year she must either finish in the top three of her semifinal or the top three of Saturday's B-final as the leading nine rowers earn a ticket.
Twigg was thankful that she stuck to her guns this year after the initial disappointment of missing selection for Munich. She had an opportunity to row in the women's eight but chose to chase a single sculls berth, accepting the tough terms laid down to her by Rowing New Zealand selectors.
"They said if you gold in Scotland you can come here, if you get silver you're on the plane home," she said.
"I'm pretty glad now that I pursued it because it could have gone pretty pear-shaped. Luckily it hasn't."
Cohen has burst onto the scene in the past 12 months, even pushing Drysdale close for the singles title at this year's national championships.
Despite his youth and natural confidence, Cohen, 21, admitted he and Trott were a bundle of nerves as they surveyed today's quarterfinal opponents - former Olympic champions Slovenia and the Estonian crew who dominated this year's World Cup.
The New Zealanders took it to them, leading at the halfway mark and allowing only Slovenia to pass in a strong, mature performance.
"We got the start we wanted and everything just went from there," Cohen said.
The same two crews and the French defending champions stand in the way of what would be an unexpected medal but Cohen said that wasn't on his mind, yet.
"We can't afford to get ahead of ourselves. At the moment it's just about the semifinal and doing as well as we can there," he said.
They need a top-11 finish for Beijing, which they will achieve unless they come last in the B-final.
Earlier today Drysdale effortlessly burst clear by the halfway stage of his quarterfinal before easing right off to qualify fifth-fastest for the semifinals.
It is repechage time tomorrow for the New Zealand eights, with the women needing a top-two finish to reach the final and the men after a top-three placing to make the semifinals. Any less for either will end their Olympic qualifying hopes.
Men's lightweight double scullers Peter Taylor and Graham Oberlin-Brown will contest a quarterfinal tomorrow.
- NZPA
