WORCESTERSHIRE rowing duo Philippa Turner and Fern Cotterill were in top form at the Gloucester and Ross regattas.

Ex-Alice Ottley School, Worcester pupil Turner, who lives at Wickhamford, near Evesham, and Cotterill, from Tenbury, who were recently crowned national champions, returned to racing after five weeks' rest.

The Wycliffe College duo put on an exhibition piece at Gloucester and beat Gloucester RC by six lengths in the final.

The Ross regatta was expected to be a sterner affair and proved to be so. The course was even more difficult than normal due to the lack of water in the River Wye that forced Ross Rowing Club to dredge the river to get enough depth for racing. Any deviation from the course would cause the crews to ground or hit the bank!

After despatching Northwich in the semi-final, the Wycliffe crew faced an improving Maidenhead double that had just beaten the impressive Evesham crew by only three feet after a tremendous fightback over the last 100 metres by Evesham.

Despite the long lay-off Wycliffe pulled out a two length lead and paced themselves to the finish winning by two-and-a-half lengths.

Turner has won Ross Junior and Veterans for the last three years in doubles with three different partners and has never lost a race in the end-of-season national junior event.