The men's four - Matt Macdonald, Tom Murray, Ollie Maclean and Logan Ullrich - power away to a win. Photo: BERTRAND GUAY
New Zealand rowers have had another strong day on the water at the Paris Olympics, with both the men's and women's four teams through to the finals.
The men's four - Matt Macdonald, Tom Murray, Ollie Maclean and Logan Ullrich - flew through their heat on Sunday night to win more than two seconds ahead of the second-place getter.
The team led the entire way, to finish with a time of 6:03.08.
The women's four - Davina Waddy, Phoebe Spoors, and sisters Kerri Williams and Jackie Gowler - were beaten in their heat only by Great Britain, the favourite for the gold medal.
Both teams will progress directly to the finals, to be held on Thursday night NZT.
Read more:
Murray said the men's four crew had "a dream start" to the race.
It was great to "get out there, get the lungs going, get the legs going, get the initial nerves out of the way", he said.
His teammate Ullrich, a first-time Olympian, said he was "extremely lucky" to be part of such an experienced and talented rowing squad.
"We're learning from our five-time Olympian Emma [Twigg] every day, she's a huge inspiration to our team.
"We learn off each other, we race each other, we bounce off each other, and it's a great environment to be part of."
In the women's lightweight double sculls, Jackie Kiddle and Shannon Cox won their heat to gain a place in the semifinals.
Phillip Wilson and Dan Williamson are through to the semifinals after coming second in their heat. Photo: AFP/BERTRAND GUAY
Phillip Wilson and Dan Williamson nabbed a second in the men's pairs and will also advance to the semis.
Williamson said it was a close race for the three semifinal places.
"Pretty hectic. We had a good start, jumped out, but I was saying to Phil the whole way down 'there's a race going on on the other side, and they're definitely going to fight back at us'," he said.
"We just held our nerve through the middle and, sure enough, they came fighting back, but we pressed on as well. Nice to be fighting towards the line with some classy crews."
Wilson said the pair "gave it everything" for their sprint finish.
"We're treating every race like a final, we're trying to get ourselves straight through in the best progression possible. It was definitely laying most of it out there, especially in that sprint towards the line.
"Probably started going from about 400 metres out. The surges kept coming. We knew that the other three crews would be fighting with us to get that progression straight through to the semis."
On the first official day of the Games, single sculler and five-time Olympian Emma Twigg won her opening heat, as did fellow single sculler Tom Mackintosh and double scullers Lucy Spoors and Brooke Francis.
The men's double scullers, Robbie Manson and Jordan Parry, came second in their heat.
Twigg and Mackintosh are through to the quarterfinals, while the double scullers are all through to the semifinals.
