Australian young gun Nat Drobot defied torrential rain to claim her second silver medal in 24 hours at the canoe sprint and paracanoe world championships in Italy.
Despite driving rain and hailstorms, Australia's kayakers shone on the final day in Milan, collecting another silver for Drobot and a bronze in the paracanoe competition to finish their campaign with six medals.
Drobot stamped herself as a major contender for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics with another medal, following up her second place in the K1 500 on Saturday with another silver in the K2 500 with partner Kaily Harlen.
Her efforts in Milan capped off a huge international season for the 20-year-old, who also won gold in the K1 500 at the under-23 and junior world championships last month.
"I feel very happy, I couldn't ask for much more," Drobot said.
"It's just so nice that the hard work has paid off and we were able to put together good races and finish off the season really well.
"I'm going to be taking a little break now, but looking forward to building on this year and making sure we can continue to step up.''
Drobot and Harlen delivered an impressive final, leading at parts throughout the race and powering home to finish the Australian campaign in style.
Harlen said she dreamt of a podium finish, and that dream coming true almost rendered her speechless.
"Honestly, I think I got about two hours of sleep last night because I was dreaming about this exact moment,'' she said.
"The weather actually got better (as the race went on), I could actually see where I was going, and I was just determined to give it my best crack.''
In the paracanoe competition, Paris silver medallist Dylan Littlehales delivered a bronze in the men's KL2 200.
Originally earmarking a year off while he finished his post-graduate honours in psychology, Littlehales' short lead-in time didn't stop him producing a strong final, putting him in the box seat for the next Paralympic cycle.
"At the start of this year I was just hoping to get in the middle of that A Final. Usually the year after the Paralympic Games you see a drop-off in the level of competition … but it's a very hot field at the moment,'' he said.
"It's going to be a very tough (Paralympic) cycle, so to start it off with a top three at the world championships, it's a good feeling, but there is still a lot of work to be done.''
Australia finished their Milan campaign with five silvers and one bronze medal.
