The national rowing team will test its mettle against the region’s best in the Asian Rowing Cup in Chungju, South Korea, starting on Friday.

Head coach Ed Maerina said in an episode of Off the Court on Thursday that the six-member delegation has been in South Korea since Sunday along with their new foreign coach, Aliaksandra Tsekhanovich of Belarus.

Olympic rowers Cris Nievarez and Joanie Delgaco banner the Filipino delegation, which also includes Kristina Paraon, Van Maxilom, Rynjie Penaredondo and Edgar Ilas.

“This is our first major competition now, so we expect many participants. Our team is preparing well,” Maerina said in the weekly online sports show of DAILY TRIBUNE.

“They are our top medal hopefuls, which is why we chose them to continue training for the Asian Games.”

Maerina, who competed in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, said having Tsekhanovich with the squad will help them gauge how far they have come in training before the Asiad starts on 19 September in Nagoya, Japan.

“Our previous methods were more old-school, but they still produced results. Now, since this is for the Asian Games, we want younger and more modern techniques in rowing,” Maerina said.

“We’ll try them and see the results. China, Japan, Korea, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Hong Kong, and India are all strong competitors.”

Ilas will compete in the lightweight men’s single sculls, while Nievarez will vie in the open single sculls.

Maxilom and Penaredondo will compete in the men’s pair, while Delgaco and Paraon will join the women’s double sculls.