The women's quadruple sculls face a tough road ahead in the Olympics after finishing fourth in their heat this afternoon in Tokyo.
The women's crew, consisting of Olivia Loe, Eva Macfarlane, Georgia Nugent-O'Leary and Ruby Tew, left their run too late in their heat and finished seven seconds behind winners Germany, who have qualified for the final along with second-place Netherlands.
The New Zealand boat began falling behind in the second half of the race, with a two second gap opening up between them and Germany.
A further five seconds were added to Germany's lead in the final 500m as the Kiwis finished with a time of 6:25.23 - still nine seconds clear of last-place USA.
The result comes after an otherwise positive day for the New Zealand rowing team with both single scullers Emma Twigg and Jordan Parry, as well as the men's and women's double sculls, qualifying for the next stage of their events.
Twigg and the women's double sculls, made up of Brooke Donoghue and Hannah Osborne, won their races while Parry took second in his heat. The men's double scull of Chris Harris and Jack Lopas was third in their race.
The rowers were the only Kiwis in action on day zero of the Tokyo Games after both the men's and women's football teams competed earlier this week.
Action picks up for New Zealand tomorrow though with a variety of athletes in action for the first official day of the Tokyo Olympics.
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