Olympic gold medallists Hamish Bond and Eric Murray received a standing ovation in Queenstown yesterday.

The London Olympic champions, speaking at the Property Council New Zealand national conference in the resort, shared their thoughts on the demands of competitive rowing and coping with pressure on the world stage.

Bond said the Kiwi pair established a common goal of achieving gold this year after the Beijing Olympics.

They enjoyed an equal rowing partnership, with each open to the other's ideas, he said.

New Zealanders took notice of rowing at Olympic level, but most of the expectation was from themselves. He considered their 2011 World Championship win as their most complete race and it marked a change in mindset to attack each race.

After a major win there was a degree of aimlessness and a feeling of being a little bit lost, wondering what would come next, he said.

Murray said the down times outside winning were rough and it was about believing in going all the way. The odd beer kept him sane during intensive training and coach Dick Tonks, a renowned taskmaster, advocated the occasional glass of red wine.

"We have tried to see how far we can go. This has far exceeded what we thought we could achieve."

Competing at the 2016 Olympics was on the cards, they said.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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