ROYAL Grammar School, Worcester, have struck gold on the national stage.

RGS' J16 eight returned from the National Schools' Regatta having won a gold medal in the B Eights event.

The crew -- Andrew Stewart, Sam Smallwood, Chris Bowen, Rob Simmons, Richard Tippett, Rob Trevett, Tom Walder, Chris Palmer and cox Alasdair Rosie -- who had never before won a regatta, produced an outstanding performance when it mattered most, dominating the race from start to finish.

Behind them came big names such as Shrewsbury School, Abingdon School, St Paul's School and St Peter's York.

The School's first eight also had cause to celebrate, as they came away with bronze medals in the School Eights event, for the first time since 1991.

The crew consisted of Tom Meredith, Rob Fisher, Doug Court, Nick Baker, Dan Bond, Colin Scott, Richard Stratton and cox Abhijit Mohite.

The final was an exciting climax to the day's racing, as the school's crew fought through from fifth place into third in the second half of the race, finishing behind Pangbourne College and Monmouth School.

However, they were particularly pleased to score a local victory against rivals from King's School Worcester.

The rest of the weekend provided some strong performances but no more medals. The J15 eight were the first RGS crew to compete in the A event at this age group, but were overpowered by Eton, Radley, Canford, Kings Chester and Hampton, to finish sixth.

On the Sunday, this eight split into two quads: the B crew missed a place in the final by a few feet, while the A crew just missed out on the medals after finishing in fourth place.

Meanwhile Charlie Fisher had his first experience of singles racing in the J15 event, and came a respectable fifth in his semi-final.

The seniors competed in two coxless pairs and a coxless four. The four looked strong in their heat, but had to withdraw at semi-final stage due to injury.

The two pairs acquitted themselves well as the B pair (Court and Baker) just missed a place in the final, while Fisher and Stratton reached the final and came fifth.

The squads now look forward to Henley, The National Championships and the Great Britain Junior trials, which feature several members of the eight.