Tasmania's Sarah Hawe has reclaimed her world title status.
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Having won gold in 2017 and silver last year, the 32-year-old returned to the top table in Austria to remain on course for a maiden Olympic Games in Tokyo next year.
Hawe and women's four crewmates Lucy Stephan and Katrina Werry, of Victoria, and South Australian Olympia Aldersey went undefeated throughout the regatta in Linz-Ottensheim to add the boat's Olympic qualification to their gold medals.
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"The field was so strong today so it's really amazing to come away with the win," said Hawe, of Huon RC, who shared the 2017 Tasmanian athlete of the year award with another world champion, Invermay bowler Rebecca Van Asch.
"Last year we won silver, so we had a lot of determination to do better this year.
"I've never been to the Olympics before, so it would be really amazing to have the chance to go."
The women's four is the newest Olympic boat class and by virtue of making the A-final, they were among several Australian crews to qualify the berth for the 2020 Games.
"It's the culmination of three years of work that has now paid off," Hawe added. "We went out there to execute our race plan to the best of our ability, trusting what we know works for us."
Hawe has been an ever-present member of the Australian women's four since 2017 during which time she has won five gold and two bronze medals at world cup regattas.
The other Tasmanian competing at the world champs is Hawe's Huon clubmate Georgia Nesbitt, 27, who raced with Sarah Pound, of NSW, in the Olympic class lightweight women's double scull.
Having pipped China to progress, the Australian crew was drawn in lane six of their semi-final and crossed the line in sixth place, while the reigning world champions New Zealand took the win from Belarus and France.
Needing to win their B-final to secure Olympic qualification, Nesbitt and Pound finished third to be ranked ninth in the world.
Tamar's Ciona Wilson, 27, is a reserve in the women's eight which finished second in its repechage to book a place in the A-final.
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Rob Shaw
Heralding the impact of Tasmanian sport without saying "punching above its weight" is not as easy as it sounds.
Heralding the impact of Tasmanian sport without saying "punching above its weight" is not as easy as it sounds.
