ROWING: Campbell makes it six in a row in Belgium

Campbell was pleased he coped with the pressure that comes from being the pre-race favourite knowing anything less than a win would be seen as a failure.

By 1000m gone, however, it was clear that Campbell would win. Behind Wells, Bill Lucas and Marcus Bateman - both products of the GB Rowing Teams' "Start" programme, sponsored by Siemens and backed by the lottery - battled each other with Lucas coming off better. Charles Cousins and Sam Townsend were fifth and sixth respectively.

"There's no good place for me to finish here and that's where the pressure comes from," said the Coleraine man.

"It's getting harder every year as the standard in the men's sculling group is going up all the time. So I'm quite relieved to have won, to be honest."

One of the races of the day involved fellow Coleraine rower Peter Chambers in the mens lightweight single scull.

Zac Purchase looked back to his best as he overcame a strong field to take victory in Hazewinkel. But the battle for second spot was where the action was at.

Rob Williams and Peter Chambers were neck and neck for more than half the course before Williams nipped in front with less than thirty strokes to go to pip Chambers.

Peter's older brother Richard also finished third in the pairs with partner Chris Bartley.