Emma Twigg. Photo: photosport
Reigning Olympic champion Emma Twigg eased into the single sculls semi-finals at the Paris Games, leading the way as all four New Zealand sculling crews advanced on day three of the regatta.
Twigg broke away at the mid-point of her women's single sculls quarter-final to win comfortably at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.
With the first three racers in each of the four quarter-finals going through, the 37-year-old Kiwi set the fastest time of the day in the third race, completing the course in 7min, 26.89s to book her spot in Thursday's semis.
"I knew that there was going to be a race on behind me, so I guess it was go out there and control it and try to not get caught up in the race behind me," Twigg told Reuters.
Australia's Tara Rigney won the first quarter-final in a time of 7min, 30.57s, while Dutch rower Karolien Florijn, silver medallist in the coxless four in Tokyo, took the second, with Viktoija Senkute of Lithuania winning the last race.
As the temperature rose, New Zealand enjoyed more success in the men's single sculls when Thomas Mackintosh secured a win in the lead-off men's quarter-final.
Tom Mackintosh. Photo: photosport
"Initially getting on the water it's not too bad but as you progress through your warm-up and your heart rate starts to climb, you suddenly start to feel the heat a lot more," Mackintosh told Reuters.
"I think it's mid-30s [Celcius] today but it feels like 40 probably when you're out there exercising."
With Netherlands, Spain and Romania going through in the first men's double sculls semi-final, the second race turned out to be a thriller as the Irish pair of Daire Lynch and Philip Doyle held on to win ahead of the crews from the United States and New Zealand's Robbie Manson and Jordan Parry, with Germany missing out on a place in the final.
Robbie Manson (L) and Jordan Parry. Photo: photosport
The women's semi-finals were equally tight, with New Zealand's Lucy Spoors and Brooke Francis beating the Netherlands and France in the first semi-final, while Romania, Britain and Norway finished within 1.06 seconds of each other in the second to qualify.
There was disappointment for the French fans, as both their 2020 Olympic champion men's double sculls crew and their men's four failed to advance from their respective races, with the latter missing out by 0.07 seconds.
- Reuters / RNZ
