To Henley Royal

New Zealand Rowing has confirmed that after the Munich World Cup in June, the entire team will move to England to train at Dorney Lake for Britain’s summer Henley Royal Regatta. The trip, between the second and third World Cup regattas, is part of a plan to boost success at the London Olympics in 2012. New Zealand rivals Britain as one of the highest-performing nations in rowing, and similarly aims to do especially well in the post-Olympic regattas, having won four straight world titles at the 2005 championships. New Zealand’s star, Mahé Drysdale, won the Diamond single skulls in 2006, but was then beaten in a tight race by British rival Alan Campbell in 2007, and wants revenge. “The idea is familiarity,” said the team’s press officer Richard Gee. “When they rock up to the Olympics, we will know the course as well as anyone.” Drysdale is a three-time World Champion single skuller. He won the 2006 supreme Halberg award and a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.