The first overall winners of the 2013 World Rafting Championships have been decided with the victors in the Under-23 and Under-19 men's and women's classes being decided after an epic 45 minute down river race along the Rangitaiki River this morning.

The Home nation excelled on familiar water today, securing two gold medals and one silver both on the water and in the overall standings.

And New Zealand's women capped a massive weekend by winning their respective categories on the Rangitaiki and securing the two overall gold medals for women. The women's Under-23 crew have been undefeated in the championship, winning the Sprint, Head to Head, Slalom and Down River to score a maximum 1,000 points - a superb performance that the Czech and Italian girls had no answer to.

The Under 19 Women's crew - spurred on by a great win yesterday in the Slalom at Kawerau, paddled their best event so far to win the Down River by over ten seconds, a performance which was good enough for them to leapfrog Brazil and win the overall gold medal as well as the Down River.

Brazil did take a gold, however, winning the Down River and securing top spot overall in the Men's Under-23 by just 25 points from the Czech Republic. Russia, who led the event after the Sprint and Head to Head, slipped back into the bronze medal position with Italy fourth and New Zealand's men fifth. Japan finished sixth with Great Britain in seventh overall. The Kiwis had held fourth overall, but the Italian's fighting third in the Down River vaulted them into the top four overall.

In the Men's Under 19 category Russia backed up their win in the slalom with a fabulous winning paddle in the Down River, but New Zealand's young crew also excelled, chasing the champions home in the race and moving up to second overall for a silver medal.

In white water rafting, there are four disciplines - the Sprint, the Head to head, the Slalom and the Down River. Each counts as an individual event, but also contributes a percentage of the overall crew score and it is this final score which determines the Overall World Champions. The Sprint is worth 10%, the Head to Head 20%, the Slalom 30% and the Down River 40% of the final scores.

Action continues in the World Champs on Thursday when the world's best male and female rafters paddle it out for event and overall honours in the Senior and Masters classes.

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