Sideline Sid Sports correspondant & historian www.sunlive.co.nz

While Sidline Sid has taken a few days to reflect on the action at the World Rowing Championships, the memories will be etched in his lifetime recollections forever. Saturday's finals, in which there were four Kiwi crews in the last four races, certainly lived up to all the hype and anticipation with the expectations of gold medal success running high.

Sitting just back from the finishing line on the Media Centre grandstand, was the opportunity to be immersed in emotions of success and disappointment, as the crews punched out the last few metres of each race.

In front of nearly 15,000 spectators, the day quietly built to the medal contests with the C and B finals. While the consolation races evoked little crowd response except when Kiwi crews were in action – the finishes all went down to the wire by the participants who were racing for world rankings.

There was a real buzz in the large partisan crowd as the first of the New Zealand crews lined up for the women's pair. Juliet Haig and Rebecca Scown didn't disappoint as they put their foot down to dominate the race and win the championship's first gold medal for New Zealand.

Next up was the men's pair with Kiwis Eric Murray and Hamish Bond, set to extend the current greatest rivalry in world rowing, with Great Britain's Peter Reed and Andrew Triggs.

The Great Britain pair shot out of the blocks, and served it up to the Kiwis leading all the way before the New Zealanders dug deep as they came abreast the large parochial crowd. To the chant of KIWI, KIWI, KIWI they surged past the gallant challengers to grab the gold medal.

To say that the large band of New Zealand supporters went crazy is an understatement, as Eric Murray and Hamish Bond left not a drop of urgency in their boat to beat their fierce rivals for a world title at home.

A star-studded field lined up against New Zealand's defending world single scull champion Mahe Drysdale. Sitting in on the single scull finalists' press conference the previous day, it was obvious that there was going to be a battle royal on the water in the last race on the penultimate day of the World Championships.

Standing in the way of a fifth consecutive world title for Drysdale was the best single sculler of 2010 in Ondrey Synek of the Czech Republic. Add in the Norwegian Olympic champion, Alan Campbell from Great Britain, and the Japanese surprise package made the glamour event a mouth-watering finale to day seven.

In spite of the highly vocal urging from the Kiwi supporters, a gallant Mahe Drysdale had to settle for silver.

Super Saturday also produced a bronze medal for women's single sculler Emma Twigg, who defied her world ranking, to dig deep in front of the grandstand of hometown supporters to grab a medal.

While we won a further gold medal on the last day, and the young New Zealand Men's Eight rowed to exhaustion to finish just in behind the medals, the day was definitely a little quieter than Super Saturday.

For mine the outstanding Kiwi performances outside of the Gold Medal victories were the Bronze Medals from adaptive rower Danny McBride who has only been in the sport a matter of months and Emma Twigg's medal.

A highly commended to the New Zealand Men's and Women's Eights, who have given New Zealand Rowing the hopes of success and former glory in the big boats in the future.

On Day three, an additional passenger on our Park n Ride bus to the venue was the CEO of Rowing NZ, welcoming a few of the 66,000 visitors to the World Championships. I cheekily took the opportunity to ask him how many gold medals New Zealand would win at Karapiro.

He shared with us the targets of 14 Kiwi crew (from 18) in the A finals, and eight podium appearances. Third place in the second World Rowing Championships to be held in New Zealand, with three gold, three silver and four bronzes was an outstanding performance – especially when our neighbours across the ditch could only win a solitary gold (and finish in sixth position).

It was a privilege to be given the opportunity to be a volunteer in what is being called the best Rowing World Championships ever staged.

Seeya at the Game.