Ben Taylor and Oli Welch are on top of the world again.

The powerful New Zealanders led from start to finish to retain their title in the men’s pair at the world championships in Amsterdam on Saturday.

The look on Taylor’s face with 250m to go said it all as the Kiwis closed in on their second consecutive world title

Taylor was taking in lungfuls, getting ready for the final push to the line. His expression was part extreme physical discomfort, part extreme mental toughness.

There was a long delay before he could haul himself out of the boat after the Kiwis docked for the medal ceremony.

Welch got the first chance to describe the moment.

“Just stoked to get it done,” he said.

“Another world title . . . it’s pretty awesome. All this hard work’s paid off for the year so it’s really satisfying.”

The New Zealanders looked completely in control throughout the race, finishing in 6min 16.62 sec, and fending off the constant presence of Australia (6min 18.50sec) and Italy (6min 19.68sec).

Welch, 22, acknowledged the scale of the challenge.

“There’s definitely a lot more competition this year. It was a lot tighter race, and the other crews really pushed us all the way to the line.

“There was no point where I thought we can back off.”

New Zealand’s nine wins make it the most successful nation in the event since the official world championships began in 1974.

Hamish Bond and Eric Murray won the event six times, and Nathan Twaddle and George Bridgewater won in 2005.

Katie Lush, competing in her first senior world championships, is one step closer to achieving her Olympic goal after finishing third in the B final of the women’s pair with Juliette Lequeux, and ninth overall.

New Zealand finished in 7min 7.51sec, behind Germany (7min 2.87sec) and Australia (7min 6.34sec).

Ben Mason and Finn Hamill were fourth in the B final of the men’s double sculls, and 10th overall.

It has been a frustrating season for the pair.

“ I’m definitely the strongest I’ve ever been. I’m arguably the fittest I’ve ever been. But the rowing part of it just isn’t there,” Hamill said.

“We sort of found something quite strong [in the quarterfinal] and were feeling good off the back of that for the semi but then it just didn’t click. It was just hard work, to be honest.”

 The New Zealanders finished in 6min 13.22sec, behind the Sinkovic brothers from Croatia (6min 8.67sec), Portugal (6min 11.44sec) and Germany (6min 11.82sec).

On Sunday, the risk of unfair conditions across the lanes led to the usual heats format being abandoned in favour of time trials, each crew racing solo at one-minute intervals.

The New Zealand women’s eight had just 20 minutes to prepare for the change but posted a smart 6min 11.11sec to reach the A final.

Taylor and Welch joined the men’s eight to advance to the semifinals with a time of 5min 34.30sec.

New Zealand’s late-gathering men’s four finished sixth in the A final, while the women’s four were second in the B final and eighth overall.

Kathryn Glen finished sixth in the C final of the women’s single sculls.

The New Zealand rower had a taste of elite action on Saturday when she lined up for a quarterfinal against Olympic champion Karolien Florijn and her would-be successor Lauren Henry, from Great Britain.

“I didn’t feel too nervous about it,” Glen said.

Glen has been steadily building since pulling out of the women’s quad in May with a stress reaction in her rib. — Allied Media