Matt Macdonald and Ollie Maclean have picked up where they left off. After taking time away from rowing following their silver medal in the Men’s Four at the Paris Olympics, the pair have come straight back into competition at the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam and progressed to the semifinals.
For Maclean, the break was genuine. He spent nine months working for a startup in San Francisco, then another nine months in New York completing a Masters degree before eventually rowing in Japan. “I wasn’t sure after Paris if I was going to come back,” he admits. The decision to return wasn’t automatic, but once back in the Rowing New Zealand squad, he and Macdonald joined forces with newcomers Harry Fitzpatrick and Fred Vavasour in what amounts to a crew still finding its feet.
On day two of the championships, the four finished third in their heat behind the USA and France. The margin told the story. New Zealand trailed France by just 0.02 seconds after a strong final 800 metres, suggesting the crew has real potential despite being early in its cycle with the Los Angeles Olympics as the long-term target.
“We’re a pretty fresh crew, but it’s an exciting project,” Maclean says. The raw speed is there. What they’re still learning is how to find their rhythm earlier in races. “It just took us a while to get into that rhythm we’ve been finding in practice over the last 10 days,” he explains. “When we do hit it, you can see the damage we can do.”
The Women’s Four also advanced, though Kate Haines described their semifinal berth as hard-won. Australia dominated their heat in 7:09.67, with Romania second and New Zealand third in 7:22.55. The gusting headwinds made the final kilometre particularly punishing. Haines felt the crew could have handled the conditions better, but there’s confidence they’ll step up when it counts.
Ben Mason and Finn Hamill progressed from their Men’s Double Sculls quarter-final against the Dutch, finishing in 6:47.99 to progress to tomorrow’s semifinal. It was a solid effort in tough water, though the Netherlands crossed in 6:44.95 and will be among the stronger crews they face.
The Women’s Quad of Stella Clayton-Greene, Olivia Hay, Beckie Leigh and Veronica Wall finished fourth in their heat and will race the C Final on Friday morning.
