Paris Olympic women's fours final. Jackie Gowler, Phoebe Spoors, Davina Waddy and Kerri Williams from New Zealand after winning bronze. 2024. Photo: Iain McGregor / www.photosport.nz
Mixed rowing will hit the water for the first time in a major competition this weekend.
In March, World Rowing introduced the idea of a mixed gender eight to compete at major championships.
The idea was to provide a new opportunity for rowers to compete on the biggest stage while maintaining gender equality within athlete quotas.
The hope was that it would be included in the LA 2028 Olympics, but the IOC decided that it was too soon to be added to the programme.
However it will be in this year's Rowing World Championships in China and this weekend will be a test event at the opening World Cup regatta in Italy.
New Zealand has crews competing in Varese this week, but they won't be a part of the new event.
"It is something that we've talked about and would like to do," Rowing New Zealand's GM of performance Judith Hamilton told RNZ.
"There are some key things that we wanted to achieve at this regatta so we weren't going to enter a mixed eight."
New Zealand has seven crews competing in Italy, mostly made up of development rowers or those that just missed the Olympic squad last year.
With it being the first year after an Olympics eleven top rowers have decided to train on their own and won't be competing internationally this season.
That therefore limits the options Rowing New Zealand has in entering the mixed competition in 2025.
"We had hoped to enter the event at the world champs (in China in September) but the programme for the heats has been changed so we're still revising whether it is something we can enter this year," Hamilton said.
New Zealand Men's Eight in action Final Olympic Qualification Regatta 2021. Photo: Rowing NZ 2021 / PHOTOSPORT
The world champs this year will also have a mixed double event.
New Zealand's participation in those boats are likely to be decided after the national trials in August.
Hamilton said while the mixed events will be made up of rowers who have competed in other events, it is something they can't take a relaxed approach to.
"If you want to be serious medal contenders then you've had to have spent time together in the boat."
New Zealand has previously mixed up boats (and genders) during training and Hamilton said it wouldn't be foreign to most athletes.
With New Zealand set to focus once again on a small boat programme with doubles and fours over the coming years, Hamilton said they will have to analyse where their best opportunity is with their athletes and what events they should be entering.
The Czech Republic, Germany, Italy and the United States are the four nations competing in the mixed eight in Varese this weekend.
The regatta will also see the introduction of the new progression system which does away with repechages with progression to finals determined by times.
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