Bay of Plenty athletes have had conflicting fortunes during the first weekend of action at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Five-time world champion Mahe Drysdale comfortably won his men's single skulls heat in which no-one else really fired a shot.

Former Tauranga Boys' College student Mahe Drysdale cruised to victory in his single skulls heat.

He was aggressive in claiming the lead in the first 1000 metres before throttling back and crusing to the finish in a time of 6.49 to win by a whopping 11 seconds and qualify as the second slowest of the six heat winners.

Afterwards, Mahe shrugged off his qualifying position for the next round on a day when the contenders did what they had to – and no more.

'I had goals. Number one was to win that race. Number two was definitely to have a really good first 1000. In the heats that's important to get a good blowout. It went well, I got a clear lead, and at the end I was still cruising.

'You don't want to waste everything right now.”

Mount Maunganui swimmer Penelope Marshall, and her compatriots, fared less well in the 4x100 metre freestyle relay.

The team, also comprising Hayley Palmer, Natasha Hind and Amaka Gessler, recorded a time of 3:42.55 to finish seventh in their heat and fourteenth overall.