Under 23s strike gold

A third world title for Joseph Sullivan highlighted another golden day on the water for New Zealand's rowers - with other wins for the men's coxed and straight fours. There was also a silver for the women's four.

Sullivan - champion in 2007 and 2008 in the single - lined up this season in the double with Robby Manson. The duo had looked strong throughout the heats along with the Germans and it was indeed Gruhne and Wenzel who took the early lead. Just a quarter of a second separated the crews at halfway and then the Kiwi double pushed hard. On a day when the New Zealand strategy worked superlatively well for the crews, Sullivan and Manson then raced away to take the win by an impressive four seconds.

The women's straight four set the medal-winning ball rolling and looked like they meant business from the very first stroke, racing out to a narrow lead which they increased to half a second at the 500 metre mark. At the 1,000 metre mark they were still ahead - by a quarter of a second from a charging Italian crew. The Italians became entwined in a major battle with the Belarusians - going even quicker in the third 500 metres - and this pushed them both past New Zealand. The girls hung on well in the last 500 metres to secure a very brave bronze medal, a great reward for Jessica Loe, Regan Barkla, Kate Reymer and Alex Burnside.

The men's coxed four, in a new hull after their boat was destroyed in Friday's storm, set off with the same intent, taking a narrow lead through to the halfway mark. This time though - the third 500 metres saw the Kiwi crew put the hammer down and move away from the field, taking a decisive lead of almost a length with 500 metres to go. They sprinted home in the last 500 metres to take a deserved gold medal ahead of Italy, Germany, the Ukraine, the United States and France. A fantastic result for stroke David Eade, Tobias Wehr-Candler, Ian Seymour, John Storey, cox Matt Cameron and coach Mark Stallard.

The men's straight four final looked exceptionally tight on paper and so it proved. At the first 500 metre mark all six crews remained within a second and a half of each other with the New Zealand crew - Tyson Williams, Hamish Burson, Simon Watson and Jade Uru - in second position. By the 1,000 metre mark, three crews had broken away and it was New Zealand followed by Canada and Germany. At 1,500 metres the Kiwi crew's impressive mid race pace took them out to a one length lead and from that point on they were untouchable, racing home to another New Zealand gold in 5 minutes and 54 seconds and booking themselves a ticket to the senior world championships in Poznan next month.

The women's quad of Odette Sceats, Alyce Pulford, Leah Stanley and Lucy Spoors never quite recovered from a slow start on its way to fourth place while a disappointing semi-final and fifth place forced Julia Trautvetter and Louise Ayling into the B final - where they raced to a very respectable second - to gain an overall ranking of seventh in a big field.