WORCESTERSHIRE’S top club rowers launch out at Henley Royal Regatta tomorrow in the annual five-day river Thames extravaganza.

Great Britain’s Beijing-bound stars are away training in Austria and Germany but Worcester Rowing Club’s Matt Beechey races his seeded British lightweight quadruple scull that won bronze at last week’s Poland World Cup regatta.

Beechey faces London outfit Tideway Scullers in his opening race for the right to meet Newcastle University or York in the quarter-finals.

There are also two US boats in the event and one from Argentina as well as a boat containing legendary Barcelona Olympic pair champions Greg and Jonny Searle, who are in the other side of the draw.

Worcester include members of their Wyfold Cup club fours winners from 2000 in their Henley eight, who face a Notingham crew in their opening Ladies’ Plate international event for the right to meet German seeds Mainzer/Berliner in the last eight.

Royal Grammar School Worcester and Alice Ottley face Henley outfit Shiplake in their opening 32-boat Princess Elizabeth Cup school eights event with either King’s Canterbury or Durham School waiting in the next round.

This year’s RGSAO team are relatively inexperienced as all of last year’s exceptional crew left last summer.

Only Matt Lawrence has previous experience of the regatta, having coxed the eight in 2005.

The line-up is Matt Menhinick, Matt Lawrence, Chris Horner, Oli Wilkie, Ben Kell, Chris Bellamy, Simon Goldrick, Will Jehring and Andy James (cox).

In May, they won on both days of Evesham Regatta in two different line-ups and have since won a variety of fours, pairs and singles events at other regattas.

At Reading, the middle four put in a strong performance to win the senior three coxed fours.

Evesham’s Josh Pendry, Rory Sullivan, Oli Staite and Will Tew race Tideway Scullers in their opening 32-boat Wyfold Cup club fours event for the right to meet Henley or Irish raiders Cork in the next round.

Brothers John and Ben Farrar have been entered in the international Visitors’ Cup fours event with James Crumpton and Maidstone's Tom Watson and face London/Wallingford.

World Cup champion sculler Zac Purchase is not racing at the 169-year-old event as the former King’s School Worcester pupil continues his build-up for the Olympics in Germany.

Evesham’s GB heavyweight Alex Gregory has withdrawn from the double sculls as he is still recuperating from injury that ruled him out of last month’s Beijing qualifying regatta.