New Zealand could not have hoped for better on the opening day of rowing at the Paris Olympics.
All four New Zealand crews in action on Saturday at Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium advanced without being forced into the repechage route.
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Defending women’s single sculls champion Emma Twigg was untroubled in her heat. The 37-year-old won as she wanted in a time of 7 minutes 34.97 seconds, from Anna Prakaten of Uzbekistan and Kenia Lechuga Alanis of Mexico.
The Hawke’s Bay rower asserted herself early and looked totally in control by the 500m mark.
“It was pretty cool to be out there competing in my fifth Olympics,” she said. “The boat felt good, so it’s onwards from here.”
Twigg said she felt particularly composed and under control in the first half of the race.
“You start to feel it in your legs in second half and that’s when you need to focus hard on the technical side.”
In the men’s single sculls, Tom Mackintosh was similarly untroubled in winning his heat in 6:55.92, which gave him a six-second margin over second-placed Greek Stefanos Ntouskos, with another three seconds back to Abdelkhalek Elbannia of Egypt.
Ntouskos is the defending Olympic champion, so it was encouraging to see how comfortably Mackintosh pulled clear of him.
Mackintosh, who finished third in the world championship single sculls last year, established a decisive early lead and, with three to advance to the quarter-finals, was never pushed.
“I’m really happy with that performance,” said the New Zealander. “Stefanos is a fierce competitor and I’m sure he has a lot more to give, but it was an exciting race and I’m very pleased.”
In the men’s double sculls, Robbie Manson and Jordan Parry showed the benefits of their previous Olympic experience.
With the first three crews advancing to the semifinals, the New Zealanders did enough to get through. The Netherlands pair won the race impressively, and Manson and Parry claimed second, just holding off the fast-finishing USA, with Serbia also closing at the end.
In the women’s double sculls, experienced campaigners Brooke Francis - who won a double sculls silver medal in Tokyo three years ago as Brooke Donoghue - and Lucy Spoors, an eights silver medallist in Tokyo, were untroubled to advance to the semifinals.
They only needed a top-three finish in their heat to advance, but won the race after getting the better of a competitive tussle with Great Britain.