Rowing: Lightweights boost Kiwi medal haul

Lightweight scullers grabbed two more gold medals for New Zealand to cap an outstanding world championship campaign in Poland last night.

Single sculler Duncan Grant won his third world title in convincing fashion before the double of Storm Uru and Peter Taylor turned in a sizzling display to win New Zealand's fourth gold medal of the regatta on Lake Malta in Poznan.

Those efforts followed the gold won by the coxless pair Hamish Bond and Eric Murray, and single sculler Mahe Drysdale 24 hours earlier.

Grant, third in his semifinal and therefore in the unfancied lane one, led from the start to win in 6min 50.78s, 1.55s ahead of Greek Vasileios Polymeros.

It rounded off a top season for Grant, who also won the titles at the Munich and Lucerne World Cup regattas in the last two months.

Uru and Taylor got off to a strong start, had edged in front of French pair Jeremie Azou and Frederic Dufour at halfway and roared on to win in 6:10.62, 1.95s clear of the French with Italy third.

Despite his successes, Grant is not the household name some of his fellow elite squad members are as his discipline is not on the Olympic Games programme. The only lightweight Games events are in double and fours. Grant tried out for a double seat for Beijing last year, but missed out to Uru and Taylor.

The lack of an Olympics on his CV may have lowered Grant's profile, but has not dimmed his abilities. "I don't really mind," he said this week. "Obviously a lot more of the focus goes on Mahe, and that's fine by me."