Rowing: Drysdale triumphs after '18 months of hell'

New Zealand enjoyed more success at the World Rowing Championships in Slovenia last night, with silver and bronze medals adding lustre to a regatta that witnessed a sensational performance from Mahe Drysdale.

Storm Uru and Peter Taylor took silver in the lightweight double sculls, with Emma Twigg coming third in the lightweight single scull.

The New Zealand men's coxless four took second place in their B Final on Lake Bled to wrap up some fine performances from the Kiwis.

But it was Drysdale, taking gold in a brilliant victory in the single scull, who will rightly claim the limelight. A disc problem in his lower back combined with arthritis forced Drysdale to change his training regime but he triumphed against a strong field on Saturday. "You know, 18 months of hell and one year out from the Olympics. It's pretty special to be back on the winners' podium again."

Drysdale rowed past early leader Alan Campbell and current champion Ondrej Synek, leaving Lassi Karonen, Marcel Hacker and Olaf Tufte in his wake.

It was Drysdale's fifth world title and an amazing effort considering his injury problems. Much of his training has been done on a bike and he said that would continue leading into the London Olympics.

Uru and Taylor looked strong throughout but were overtaken by Great British crew Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter with about 200m to go.

Twigg, in the lightweight single scull, led at the 1500m mark but faded to finish third behind Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic and Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus.

The New Zealand men's coxless four added to a long list of Kiwi rowers who have qualified for the London Olympics with a second place in their B Final. Jade Uru, Ben Hammond, James Dallinger and Chris Harris took silver behind Canada in a close race. A record 12 New Zealand boats have qualified for London following last night's final session of the championships.

Earlier, Eric Murray and Hamish Bond repelled a strong challenge from arch rivals Peter Reed and Andrew Triggs of Great Britain to take their third straight world title.

The other gold medal winners for New Zealand were Rebecca Scown and Juliette Haigh in the women's pair and Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan in the men's double scull.