Rowing: Gold medal rush for NZ

New Zealand banked another two gold medals at the world rowing championships at Poznan, Poland last night, through lightweight single sculler Duncan Grant and the lightweight double of Storm Uru and Peter Taylor.

Grant ensured New Zealand once again completed the double of men's single sculls titles when he charged to victory in his final.

Just over an hour later, Uru and Taylor, who were fourth at the Beijing Olympics, turned that disappointment into golden delight by leading their final from start to finish.

Grant, the two-time defending champion going into this regatta, struggled to third in his semi on Friday night but was back in commanding form when it mattered most.

He stormed out to the front at the 500m mark and never relinquished the lead, crossing the finish line over a second ahead of Greece's Vasileios Polymeros with a time of six minutes, 50.78 seconds.

Grant, Uru and Taylor join single sculler Mahe Drysdale and the men's pair of Eric Murray and Hamish Bond as gold medallists.

Drysdale, Murray and Bond powered to victory the previous day while the women's pair of Rebecca Scown and Emma Feathery won bronze.

The men's double of Nathan Cohen and Matthew Trott and Emma Twigg in the women's single sculls narrowly missed out of medals, finishing fourth in their finals.

Drysdale won his fourth title in the premier men's single sculls, while the Bond and Murray powered to gold to be crowned world champions for a second time after their success as part of the men's four in 2007.

The women's pair of Feathery and Scown won New Zealand's first medal of the finals but expressed disappointment at their bronze, having entered the race as a strong favourite for glory.

Adaptive rower (for rowers with physical handicaps), Robin Tinga, was fifth in his final.

Drysdale set the record straight after the disappointment of last year's Olympics.

In choppy conditions, Great Britain's Alan Campbell set the early pace before Drysdale almost inevitably rolled over him to charge to the lead at the 1500m mark.

Campbell finished strongly but Drysdale repelled the challenge to cross the line in a new world best time of six minutes 33.35 seconds, five one hundredths of a second quicker than he has ever gone before.

"This is definitely the best," Drysdale said of his fourth world title.

"I still can't quite believe it. This is the first year I've ever gone unbeaten in a season. It's a nice way to start the new Olympic cycle."

The shocking images of Drysdale, visibly ill after his brave bronze medal row at last year's Beijing Games, will not be easily forgotten.

It is a source of motivation for Drysdale, who thrived being back on the podium's top spot.

"It's nice to remember what the winning feeling is like.

"Now I've got that feeling, I want to carry that on for the next three years through to London," he said.

The Czech Republic's Ondrej Synek made up the top three with Norway's Olympic champion Olaf Tufte limping home last, nearly 30 seconds behind Drysdale.