A FORMER member of Evesham Rowing Club, Beverley Gough, has been named as first reserve for Great Britain's Olympic Eight.

The former Bowbrook School, Peopleton and King's School, Worcester pupil, whose parents live in Bishampton, moved down to London earlier this year to join the Women's Sweep Oar Group in their bid to qualify an eight for Sydney.

The 27-year-old made her British bow at the first Regatta of the World Cup in Munich in June, when the crew raced well in finishing fourth, a mere 0.6 seconds behind the reigning world champions.

A fortnight later, Beverley represented Queens Tower Club in an eight at Henley, winning a close-fought final against Thames RC.

The next month, she was in action at the National Championships in Nottingham, where, in tandem with fellow Commonwealth rower Rachel Armstrong, Beverley won the Open Doubles final that earned her an England call the following week.

This year's Home International Regatta was staged in Ghent in Belgium and the former Evesham girl was again part of a victorious sculling crew in the women's Quad as they helped England to victory.

Beverley has trained throughout the season with the Sweep crew in London and her selection is reward for the dedication and commitment.

The former student at Nottingham and Birmingham Universities, where she took up a computer course, is now a fully qualified physiotherapist.

She has been fitting in a job as a web designer with a large media company in Nottingham around her hectic training schedule while commuting from her London base and trying to battle with her finances to keep alive her Olympic dream.