WORCESTER Rowing Club's Claire Crozier teamed up with Lindsey Maguire of Birmingham University to win the prestigious Redgrave Trophy Henley Women's Regatta.

This regatta traditionally attracts the cream of Scottish and English women's rowing and this year was no exception.

In their first heat, Crozier and Maguire, who trains on the River Severn at Worcester, took on the crack Bath University crew in what turned out to be their hardest race of the regatta. After a thrilling race, the Midlands pairing finally secured a narrow win by six seconds.

The quarter-final and semi-final races saw Crozier and Maguire clinching comfortable wins against University College Oxford and the Edinburgh-based St Andrew Boat Club, beating them by three lengths and five lengths respectively.

In the final, they came up against arguably the top women's rowing club in England, the Thames RC outfit.

Although both crews were close until the half-way mark, Crozier and Maguire stepped up their race pace and drew away to finish two-and-a-half lengths ahead to secure the Redgrave Trophy that five-time Olympic gold medallist Sir Steven Redgrave presented to the regatta recently.

Worcester junior Sarah Coburn reached the semi-final of the women's junior sculling event, beating scullers from the USA and the London club Lea.

In the semi final she raced the current second ranking Great Britain junior sculler and was leading until half-way but Mottram, of Marlow Rowing Club, put in a big push and Coburn moved out of the stream allowing the Marlow girl to drive past and win by two lengths.