Pearson and Kenny, rowing with their New Zealand men’s quad crew mates Finn Hamill and Evan Williams, made their debuts in testing conditions at St Catherine’s, Canada, yesterday.
They finished fourth in their heat in 5min 52.52sec in breezy conditions.
"The tail wind was pretty tricky to kind of cotton on and hook on to", coach Matt Cameron said.
"We were off the pace from where we know we can be.
"Today was probably a definite step back, but the cool thing is the guys know that and are pretty clear on what we can target to get closer and back to how we’ve been going."
It was a good debut for Pearson and Kenny.
"They loved it today", Cameron said.
"There was a real cool energy. They’re just keen to go again.
"They’re disappointed they didn't quite get the performance they wanted . . . but they've got their head around it really quickly."
They will now compete in the repechage today.
The Kiwi women’s four of Alice Fahey, Madeleine Parker, Beckie Leigh and Lucy Burrell are through to the semifinals, as are the men’s four of Josh Gordon, Callum Tutbury, Ed Lopas and Ben Shortt.
Mollie Nicol and Oscar Ruston will compete in the women’s and men’s single repechages today.
Another Dunstan rower, Marley King Smith, will row with Jamie Dimock in the men’s double scull in the world under-19 championships later this week.
