Ben Allan and Payo O’Sullivan were selected as part of the Rowing New Zealand under-19 squad that competed at the World Rowing Senior, Under-23 and Under-19 Championships in St Catharines, Ontario late last month.
They competed as part of an eight after impressing at an intense trial at the Karāpiro Rowing complex earlier this year.
O’Sullivan said the experience was simply incredible.
"Ben and I really enjoyed it, we spent about six weeks training over in Cambridge before heading off.
"It was quite a long flight to Canada, it was about 13 hours to Vancouver and another five to Toronto — I was glad to get that travelling done out of the way.
"We were based in South Niagara and trained at a small rowing club in an area called Welland.
"It was really good fun but it was really hot over there, really humid — it was actually kind of hard to adjust to."
He said a lot of preparation went in ahead of race day.
"We moved to the racing venue where we stayed at a university with all the other countries.
"That was really good.
"We trained at the St. Catherine's rowing course, Royal [Canadian] Henley. We did probably a week of training there before race day.
"It was quite hectic, all the crews from the other countries were trying to train at the same time and the under-23s were of course there as well.
"We also had a really good wee training run with the Australian under-23s."
O’Sullivan said they first competed in a preliminary race.
"We got third in that behind Great Britain and America, we had a nice tailwind that day.
"Then rolling into the final, we had a good race, but ultimately we came fourth.
"We got fourth to the Germans.
"It was a good race where we couldn't have pushed any harder, but we were kind of a little bit disappointed, I'd say."
He said he relished coming up against international-level opposition.
"It was certainly, really, really different from school level, obviously.
"There's still good crews in New Zealand, but just the quality of crews overseas that come to these regattas is just crazy, everyone is just top level."
O’Sullivan said his experience in Canada was invaluable for his rowing progression.
"Ben and I are heading to the same club, we're heading to Avon this season.
"We'll row together in whatever form that is, whether that’s an eight together or a pair or four, that's kind of up to the coaches.
"I’d be keen to stay in an eight.
"I do like small boats, but an eight is a really fun boat to race.
"Having all the people around you kind of makes it less nerve-racking sometimes."
