Rowers noncommittal as Webb Challenge looms

Iain Hyndman | 26th November 2009

The four mainstays in Sunday's Prospace Billy Webb Rowing Challenge on the Whanganui River were playing it cagey about their chances on arrival in the city yesterday.

Mahe Drysdale looked fresh despite his torrid campaign around the globe since winning the single sculls championship in Poland in August.

"I only arrived back in the country on Tuesday last week and coach [Dick Tonks] has not let up on us since. I was back in the water immediately,' Drysdale said yesterday.

While he was pumped and relatively confident he would test his main Billy Webb opponent, Belgian Tim Maeyens, he rated potential event wild card entrant and Kiwi teammate Nathan Cohen as the dark horse on Sunday.

"Tim will be tough - he's been training for the last month on Lake Karapiro, so I'm not sure how fit he will be."

Drysdale was picking Cohen to win tomorrow's wild car race on the Whanganui River to gain entry into the Billy Webb.

"Nathan is my pick to win the wild card and he beat me twice overseas this campaign over 4.5km, so it's going to be interesting,"

Maeyens played his chances down slightly, but said he had been long distance training at Karapiro and was hoping his experience in river conditions would help.

"I don't quite know what to expect, although Mahe beat me at the worlds this year where I finished fourth."

Maeyens was light-heartedly more concerned about driving safely on the left hand side of the road in a car loaned to him for the week by Watkins Honda.

"I hope I don't crash it, I'm not that used to driving on the left," Maeyens said.

Meanwhile, top ranked New Zealand women's sculler Emma Twigg gave nothing away about her chances against Australian Sally Kehoe in the inaugural women's race of the Prospace Billy Webb Challenge.

"Sally has been racing in doubles lately, so I don't know what her single scull form will be like. The last time we raced singles against each other was in Oklahoma in 2007 and I won over 2km, but the 5km on Sunday is a wee bit different.

"I don't know what to expect and I'm hoping my knowledge of the Whanganui River will give me the edge,' Twigg said.

Kehoe, born in Wanganui's Australian sister city Toowoomba, said she was feeling a lot fitter after recent training in Canberra and on the Sydney Harbour, but conceded her experience match racing in river conditions was limited.

"We do time trials on rivers back home, but relatively little match racing. I have been distance training which will help over the 5km on Sunday."

Kehoe was excited about measuring herself in the single sculls against Twigg with a view to the world championships coming up at Lake Karapiro next year.

"My focus is obviously on the crew boats, but I wouldn't say no to being picked for the single scull. I'd have to be world class to be picked in that role, so it's great to get the chance to measure myself against Emma,"

Unlike Maeyens, Kehoe had no fears about crashing her Watkins Honda-sponsored car over the next few days.