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Good luck to Rowing New Zealand for the World Championships and Olympic Qualification

The countdown to the Olympics begins here – that's pretty much the message which has been coming out of the High Performance Centre at Rowing New Zealand since the ultra successful performance on home water at the 2010 Rowing World Championships.

It seems just a moment ago that we were cheering on our stars at Lake Karapiro, but already they have completed yet another gruelling training period and are all set to head off to Europe to take on the best the world has to offer in the final two rowing World Cups and this year's World Championships at Bled in Slovenia.

In any normal year the World Championships represent the pinnacle of the sport and this year, as it does once every four years, will also provide the qualification in all Olympic boat classes for the crews aiming for glory in London.

There is a last chance regatta for qualifiers next year, but by and large, the majority of the main runners will be identified in Bled. Indeed many federations could spring a few surprises with the crews they boat and aim to qualify.

It's like that at the top of rowing at the moment – there is doubt for every crew as to whether they will make the grade, no matter how they performed last year or in recent seasons. One thing for sure is that the rowing world will be expecting big things from the New Zealand team.

The coaching staff and athletes have worked unbelievably hard over the past three years since the Beijing Olympics and success from that effort and consistency of that success have meant New Zealand now sits firmly in the top three of the world's rowing nations.

Can New Zealand use the opportunity of the Olympics to stamp their authority on the sport and live up to the goal of being the best rowing nation in the world? Time will tell, but we'll be there in Bled cheering on the team and adding our vocal support to the Olympic effort.

Go New Zealand!

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