EVESHAM Rowing Club sent its strongest ever squad to the National Schools Regatta in Nottingham this weekend, and returned triumphant with a full set of medals.

In the J15 girls double sculls, both Evesham crews made the semi-finals, with Cherry Gayton and Emma Woodedd finishing second and Mary Dixon and Vicky Dyster sixth.

In the final, Gayton and Woodedd faced strong opposition but put in an excellent performance to finish in eight minutes and 58seconds.

In the boys J15 double sculls, Tim Messent and Ben Max-well cruised through to the final when they gave an outstanding display of sculling to take the silver medal, ahead of well fancied crews from Marlow, Reading, Kingston and Dulwich College.

The girls coxed four of Rosie Buckley, Katherine Scott, Claire Yates and Holly Carter, coxed by Ali Gregory, impr-essed coach Rob Buckley by qualifying for the final.

They then put in an outstanding performance, narrowly missing out on bronze medal, finishing fourth.

In championship singles, Andrew Walker dominated his heat and semi-final, and was strongly tipped for a medal position. Unfortunately, his final was hampered by a less than perfect start and, despite a massive push in the third quarter, he was unable to make an impact on his opponents.

The Evesham Championship quad of Tom Dyson, Dimitri Phoursa, Alex Gregory and Ewan Baird crowned a successful first day by taking the bronze medal behind Leander and Windsor Boys.

Sunday racing for Evesham commenced with Kate Wilk-inson in a heat of the girls J15 sculls.

Despite a spirited row, she was unable to qualify for the semi-finals, a fate shared by the two entries in the J15 coxed quads.

Competition also hotted up in boys J15 single sculls, with Messent finishing fourth in the heat and Maxwell fourth in the semi-final.

The highlight of the day came with two Evesham crews in the final of double sculls.

Baird and Dyson showed outstanding form, jostling for fourth position with Peterbor-ough and Burton Leander and just being eased to fifth at the finish.

The day belonged to Gregory and Walker who powered into the lead at 500m and steadily drew away from the competition to take the gold medal and the County Trophy in convincing style.

The club's success in this premier event is a fitting tribute to the dedication and enthusiasm of junior coaches Keith Rafter, Rob Buckley and Norman Baldwin, and to Mark Earnshaw who has coached the gold medal double over the last six weeks.