Tauranga Rowing Club members are basking in the glory of their latest world champion, after Adam Ling won gold over the weekend at the World Rowing Championships held in Aiguebelette, France.
Ling blitzed a world class field to win the lightweight single sculls final.
The 23-year-old produced an almost textbook-perfect race strategy from lane one to beat strong challengers from Serbia and Slovenia. He was fourth after 500m but came home strongly over the final 250m to win by 0.79 seconds.
Ling, who was a product of Aquinas College before spending his final year at Tauranga Boys' College, won the men's premier lightweight single scull at Lake Ruataniwha at the 2015 New Zealand Rowing Championships last summer, but has improved dramatically after struggling to finish 13th at the Varese World Cup in June.
The only downside is that the lightweight single sculls is not an Olympic event - but after his golden performance, he must be odds on to win a seat in either the lightweight men's four or lightweight double crews, that hopefully qualify for the Rio Olympics.