Waddell wins opening salvo in epic clash

The  champ is back, and just may be, better than ever.

In an amazing comeback that will cause palpitations among the world's leading single scullers, Rob Waddell yesterday convincingly beat three-time world champion Mahe Drysdale by more than four seconds at Lake Karapiro.

Waddell, the 2000 Olympic champion, stormed to the front over the last 500m of the men's premier single sculls to claim victory in the KRI 1 regatta in front of several thousand spectators.

With a slight tailwind, Waddell, who has reportedly shed 20kg in training, won in 6min 39.8s, only three seconds off Drysdale's world record time over 2000m.

Incredibly, it was Waddell's first competitive outing since the Sydney Olympics seven years ago, in between having worked as a grinder for Team New Zealand.

Drysdale later admitted he had been stung by the defeat.

Waddell's dramatic comeback sets up an intriguing selection dilemma for Rowing New Zealand, who can enter only one of the pair at next year's Beijing Olympics.

New Zealand's Olympic trials are in March and while selectors would be reluctant to snub the reigning world champion, continued dominance from Waddell would force their hand.

After the race, Waddell, 32, was elusive, staying on the water for an hour after the race, seemingly avoiding the waiting media.

When he eventually came ashore, Waddell, who remains contracted to Team New Zealand, said legal wrangling over the next America's Cup had allowed him to focus fully on rowing.

He was committed to competing at Beijing, preferably in the single sculls, but would row in a team if asked. "I'm in a good place right now," Waddell remarked.

Drysdale said it hurt to be left in Waddell's wake but quickly put the race, used by national crews as a training event, into perspective.

"I hate to lose. You ask any of the guys, you don't give an inch and you never like to lose but you've got to look at it in the big picture," Drysdale said.

"It's not the end of the world, and I've lost every year since I've been in the single and you've got to take the lessons from that and move on and improve from it.

"If I just sit back and say `well, that was fine' then I didn't learn anything from it and I'm probably going to lose next time too.

"But if I can take some points from it and move on, then it can turn into quite a positive thing."

Waddell is not in the official New Zealand elite squad and has been training since June, largely out of Drysdale's sights. So, said Drysdale, the race was a step into the unknown.

He stopped short of saying he was surprised to lose and was comfortable with his performance.

"Rob just pushed away and I wasn't able to stay with him, but at this time of the season I'm pretty happy. It was a pretty slick time and I'm happy with that."

Drysdale had only resumed training in October and believed Waddell was "slightly ahead" in his physical preparation.

The prospect of the sport's two heavyweights slugging it out for Beijing is a mouthwatering one and Drysdale said it would push the pair to some sizzling times.

"You've got a unique opportunity where you've got two of the top scullers in the world battling it out week in, week out, which is a pretty good sort of environment for New Zealand," he said.

"That's one of the reasons why New Zealand rowing is doing so well on the international stage.

"The field we had out there is world-class. [It was] the best sculling field any country in the world could put together and that's a pretty exciting prospect."

Drysdale said Waddell's intensive weights program with Team New Zealand had given him an edge in raw power.

"We've got strengths in different areas. He's stronger, coming from his sailing background, and he seems to be in very good shape.

"But physically we're similar height and weight and our endurance levels are fairly similar."

Drysdale and the national elite team now cool their heels with a four-day cross-training break over Christmas before returning to camp on December 27.

"This is a very important time for us to keep the training going and keep the intensity going and build that base for later on down the track," Drysdale said.

"That's what we're really focused on at the moment, making sure the base is as big as possible because the bigger the base, the bigger my pyramid, and that's obviously what we're aiming for, for the Olympics."

- © Fairfax NZ News