Zoe McBride's dominance of the women's lightweight single sculls continued at the perfect time in France last night.
The former Kavanagh College pupil is unbeaten in 2015, winning the under-23 world championships and two world cup golds, but added a world championship to her record with a powerful display at Aiguebelette in southeast France last night.
McBride was in supreme control throughout the 2000m, extending her lead from just under 1sec after 500m to 1.54sec over Great Britain's Imogen Walsh by the time she crossed the line.
For McBride, it caps a perfect year on the international stage after her world cup wins in Italy and Switzerland and her under-23 success in Bulgaria.
She was not the only New Zealander to claim gold last night.
Adam Ling secured New Zealand's first gold of the championship in the men's lightweight single sculls. Ling put the pressure on early from a wide lane in the final, attacking Serbian Milos Stanojevic for the first 1500m before powering past Rajko Hrvat of Slovenia in the last 100m to win the world championship in 6min 53.80sec.
Men's double Robbie Manson and Chris Harris looked strong as they went on to win their quarterfinal on Thursday then finished third in their semifinal last night to make the final, and Mahe Drysdale strolled into the men's single final after leading all the way to win his single sculls semifinal.
On Thursday night, the women's lightweight double of Julia Edward and Sophie Mackenzie won their race after preparing for a tough slog in the semifinal.
The men's coxless pair of Hamish Bond and Eric Murray joined them, securing Olympic qualification and progressing to tonight's A final with a comfortable win after heading off Serbia and Italy with clear water.
The women's coxless pair of Kerri Gowler and Grace Prendergast were the first New Zealand crew to qualify for both the A final and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games by finishing second in their heat behind Great Britain.
