New Zealand’s Under 23 rowers have landed in Germany and made an immediate statement. On day one of the World Championships in Duisburg, the Men’s Eight advanced directly to the A final with a commanding heat win that suggests the next generation has both the depth and the hunger to challenge for gold.
The crew is built around Nic Bryan, a Syracuse University student and the sole returning member from last year’s silver-medal boat. He rows in four seat, surrounded by eight athletes mostly plucked from the 2023 Maadi Cup and Springbok Shield battles. Oli Leach, Dylan McConnell, Matthew Glen, Sam Hickling and his brother Luke all rowed for Sacred Heart, St Bede’s or Hamilton Boys during that record-setting year. Ted Mayne, Josh Syme and cox Hunter Rowland round out the line-up, with most of the crew now based at American universities.
That geographical split could have been messy. Instead, it’s become an advantage. Sam Hickling explains how the blend works: “Coming together with all these different US schools and bringing their own aspect to it has been quite cool. Luke at Northeastern has given us info on their rapid start, and we’re all putting our ideas together. It’s been really cool with the New Zealand guys and the American guys meeting in the middle.”
In their heat, the eight faced world champions Great Britain. The British seized an early lead, with Germany in second at halfway. But New Zealand stayed in the fight, moving on the Germans with every stroke. By the 1500m mark they sat less than a length behind GB and half a length ahead of Germany. Great Britain won in 5:48.54. New Zealand touched the line in 5:51.26, enough to advance. Coach Calvin Ferguson attributes the improvement to obsessive attention to detail. “We’ve been working a lot around clean blade work, around shape and separation. They’re not quite as strong on the ergs as last year’s crew, but the way they’re executing the pick-up of the boat and acceleration is going to be another step-up come Sunday.”
Elsewhere, Madeline Cox earned her way into the regatta proper after being selected as a travelling reserve. The Cal Berkeley sophomore raced in the Women’s Single Sculls heat against the U19 World Champion from Greece, finishing third in 8:23.98 and seventh fastest overall across all heats. That was enough to progress to the semi-finals. Her coach Mark Stallard noted she stayed calm waiting for the results: “No nervous wait. Madeline’s a numbers person, so she was fully aware of what was going on.”
The Men’s Pair of Tadhg Farac and Charlie Beale, both in their first major international flatwater regatta, went fifth in their heat in 7:23.51. Farac acknowledged the step up. “It’s definitely a big step compared to domestic racing. We probably just struggled to race to the conditions and shortened up through the middle, letting the race get away from us.”
The Women’s Quad of Madison Neale, Emma Bagrie, Tegan O’Dwyer and Harriet Thompson claimed the fifth fastest time overall, securing the last A final spot with 7:12.78. They race tomorrow night.
Sunday will tell whether this rookie eight can push for the gold medal, with their final scheduled just after 9pm New Zealand time.
