Rowing: Drysdale dares to dream of Olympic gold

Mahe Drysdale has emulated Rob Waddell on the world championship stage with back-to-back gold medals - and now he wants to take the analogy one step further.

Just as Waddell won the 1998 and 1999 world championship single scull titles before winning Olympic gold in Sydney the following year, so Drysdale has his heart set on Beijing in 2008 as the culmination of his career.

"This is great," he said after a sizzling finish to win the final at Eton's Dorney Lake course. "But I need to have Olympic gold in Beijing. That will mean everything to me."

He demonstrated in the final that he has immense mental reserve as he clawed back runaway German leader Marcel Hacker to nab gold on the line. Drysdale had been 2s down on Hacker with 500m left but roared home to win in a world best time of 6m 35.40s, 0.9s ahead of Hacker, with stripe-haired Czech Republic oarsman Andrej Synek third and Olympic champion Olaf Tufte of Norway fourth.

A year ago, New Zealand ruled the waters of Gifu, Japan, with four golds. Today, Drysdale stands alone at the top of the world, after a tough day in which New Zealand also bagged two silvers and two bronzes.

In a regatta where the standards were significantly tougher than last year, Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell, George Bridgewater and Nathan Twaddle and Nicky Coles and Juliette Haigh lost their crowns, but still finished on the dais.

The Evers-Swindells were beaten in the double sculls, the event they have ruled since 2002, by Australian pair Liz Kell and Brooke Pratley. The Aussies turned in a terrific display to hold off fast-finishing Germans Britta Oppelt and Suzanne Schmidt, clocking 6m 47.67s. The Evers-Swindells recorded 6m 48.82s for bronze.

"We were beaten by two better crews. It just wasn't our day. That's sport, that's life," Georgina Evers-Swindell said.

Coxless pair Twaddle and Bridgewater flew home in the closing stages, but could not peg back Australians Drew Ginn and Duncan Free, who had set the tone early in the race. The New Zealanders made up almost 4s deficit but Ginn and Free held their nerve to win impressively.

"It's not nice going from gold to silver, but I guess it makes it a little better when you're beaten by top opponents, as they are. We put everything out on the track," Bridgewater said.

The happiest of the medallists were Coles and Haigh, who have endured a wretched European campaign but sheer hard work enabled them to pick up their game at the right time.

Coles admitted she "thought I'd never be satisfied with anything other than gold. But I'm over the moon with silver after our season."

They were beaten in the coxless pairs by an excellent Canadian combination, Darcy Marquadt and Jane Rumball, who crossed 2.04s clear of the New Zealanders in 6m 54.68s.

The day began with a surprise bronze for Duncan Grant in the lightweight single scull. He had joined the squad late in Europe and justified the selectors' faith when he overcame a dodgy start to take third comfortably.

Briton Zac Purchase won in a world-best time of 6m 47.82s, with Spain's Juan Zunzunegui Guimerans second.