MATT Aldridge made up for lost time by helping Britain’s men’s four defend their World Championship crown in Belgrade.

The Christchurch rower missed last year’s final after testing positive for COVID, but there were no such concerns this time around as he joined forces with Freddie Davidson, David Ambler and Oli Wilkes to conclude an unbeaten season.

Nine-time Olympic gold medal winners in this class, Britain missed out on the podium in Tokyo but have marked themselves out as the team to beat heading into Paris next summer.

“It's good, it feels like this was a long time coming,” Aldridge said.

“It hasn't quite settled in yet and I'm still trying to digest the race but me and Dave are finally back together in the boat and I'm really happy.

“A lot of pain is going through my legs but it's all good – this is what we do it for.”

Having secured European Championship gold in May, the British quartet banked an Olympic quota place for the boat by coming through their semi-final in the Serbian capital on Thursday.

They came under early pressure from the USA, Netherlands and New Zealand in the final but hit the front by the halfway point and never looked back.

Making light of a challenging headwind, the British crew ultimately crossed the line two seconds clear of their American rivals.

Ambler was the man to fill in for the stricken Aldridge 12 months ago but was first choice this time around and further cemented his place in the illustrious boat.

“Last year was completely unexpected,” Ambler said. “I was just trying to fit in with a crew that were on the up all season.

“But it means a lot more to me this year to have earned my spot and not have just been filling in for somebody because they got COVID.

“I'm really happy with this crew and this performance and ecstatic to have got the win.”

Wilkes was also waiting in the wings in 2022 but marked his World Championship debut in style.

“Last year, I was a reserve after Dave so with the seasons we've had, we felt a lot of pressure coming into this,” he said.

“But we knew we had to finish off on a high and we managed to do it.”

British Rowing is the governing body for the sport and is responsible for the development of rowing in England and the training and selection of rowers to represent Great Britain. The GB Rowing Team is supported by the National Lottery Sports Fund. To find out more, and to follow the team, head to https://www.britishrowing.org/