Alan Campbell wasn’t downhearted after his defeat by triple world champion Mahe Drysdale in the final of the Diamond Single Sculls at Henley yesterday.

Instead the Coleraine sculler is taking all the positives he can from a weekend where he beat double Olympic gold medalist Olaf Tufte from Norway in a titanic struggle in Saturday’s semi-final.

The 24-year-old was behind at halfway but with two hundred metres remaining he made his move and forced his way past Tufte who had nothing left to give. The duo paddled the last few strokes over the line exhausted.

Drysdale, by contrast, had a much easier passage to the final comfortably beating Tim Maeyens of Belgium.

The Kiwi then gained revenge over Campbell for defeat over the same course two years ago.

“He played a really good game today. He played me at all the right places and went out very fast and I think the race against Tufte took it’s toll, I felt very heavy in the legs, I really struggled to stay with him,” explained Campbell.

“I had a tougher semi but that’s not an excuse, Henley is Henley, you play the cards you’re dealt and you just have to get on with it.

“I did myself proud this weekend, I had great support from Northern Ireland, so many people turned up and I hope I’ll be remembered for the race against Tufte, which was very special. It was epic.

“Now I will look forward to the world championships and try to work out how to beat Mahe. He’s is great form, better than he was going into the Olympics so it’s going to take a huge effort to reel him in and I hope I can.”

Those World Championships are in Poznan in Poland in six weeks time and Campbell will skip the final World Cup regatta in Lucerne next week to begin his preparations.

“I wanted to race at Henley. I’ve finished first and second so far in the two world cups, I’ve beaten everyone except Mahe.”