On the back of a sparkling performance at the Rowing World Cup, up-and-comer Robbie Manson has thrown down the gauntlet to Olympic champion Mahe Drysdale.

Manson dominated at the last four rowing world meets, in Switzerland, Poland, the Czech Republic and Serbia, winning the men's single sculls event in each and breaking Drysdale's world record in one of the runs.

After his stellar run, the 27-year-old believes he's earned the right to race in the single boat, representing New Zealand on the international stage moving forward.

"It's the boat I want to be in in Tokyo and I think now I've sorta shown that I have a realistic chance now

"I've exceeded my own expectations so far, it's only been my first two international regattas in the boat and hopefully with my coach Noel, we can keep moving forward and improving and getting even faster so it's really exciting."

Prior to 2017, Manson's been racing in the double sculls with Chris Harris.

However, with the absence of Drysdale - who announced a 12-month break following the 2016 Rio Olympics - Manson's stepped into the single boat, and made it look easy.