Oxford Blues Andy Hodge and Peter Reed are world champions for the second time after helping to successfully defend Britain’s men’s four world title at the World Rowing Championships today.

Hodge and Reed, together with Olympic champion Steve Williams and Alex Partridge, extended their unbeaten run to 24 races to retain the title by holding off the fast-finishing Germans and the Dutch who moved up from sixth at half-way to take the bronze.

Earlier the British quartet had been fastest out of the block and worked hard in the early stages to break clear of the USA and Slovenia.

Afterwards Hodge said: "That was hard. In these tail wind conditions you have to be so clever." Reed added: "That was a pretty amazing finish from the rest of the field. It’s been a great event here. The crowd and the volunteers have made the win very special".

Steve Williams said: "I just felt we had the momentum with us. The Americans put a lot in at the beginning of the race. I clipped the water and I thought that was game over. With about 15 strokes to go I was digging deep.

"Winning for the second time, that’s the real thing. There’s real pressure. We knew it was going to be a really tough race."