The 37-year-old had been the fastest qualifier for the final but found himself trailing the world champion Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic in the early stages of the race.

Drysdale was able to come from behind to claim victory in a time of 6min 54.110sec, with Synek settling for second in 6:57.430.

The podium was completed by Cuba’s Angel Fournier Rodriguez, who clocked 6:59.310.

New Zealand enjoyed further success in the men’s pair as world and Olympic champions Hamish Bond and Eric Murray finished in a time of 6:48.570.

Roel Braas and Mitchel Steenman finished the race in exactly the same time as Britain’s Nathaniel Reilly-O'Donnell and Matthew Tarrant behind the New Zealand crew, with both pairs clocking 6:51.050.

A third and final Kiwi gold was earned by their lightweight men’s four crew who triumphed in 6:02.140, with world champions Switzerland and Denmark ending adrift in 6:03.920 and 6:04.430 respectively.

Britain were triumphant in the men’s four as Callum McBrierty, Mohamed Sbihi, George Nash and Alex Gregory finished in a time of 5:55.48.

The quartet ended narrowly ahead of the Australian crew, who ended in 5:55.75, while The Netherlands took bronze in 5:58.29.

Australia’s world champion Kim Brennan triumphed in the women's single sculls by finishing in 7:28.380, with the United States’ Genevra Stone and China’s Jingli Duan completing the podium in 7:30.980 and 7:32.270 respectively.

The women's eight saw world and Olympic champions the United States earn gold in a time of 6:01.12, with Britain crossing in second just 0.83 off the pace.

New Zealand completed the podium in a time of 6:04.01.