EVESHAM Rowing Club’s junior 15 boys’ coxed four won gold at the British Championships in Strathclyde with a record-breaking row over the 2km course.

The crew of Jack Towers, Ross McIldowie, James Waterhouse and Alex Russell, coxed by Zoe Thomas, moved up an age group to compete in the junior 16 event.

As the quickest crew off the start, the boys soon gained the lead in a race that saw the rest of the competitors lagging way behind.

With a more than seven-length (24 seconds) lead, the Evesham crew stormed over the finish-line in a time of 7.74 minutes, a full 3.5 seconds ahead of the championship record for this event which was set in 2006.

Coach Martin Davies was delighted with boys’ efforts, commenting that the winter training the boys had done had paid off.

He said: “It’s often said in rowing that you win your races in the winter and collect your medals in the summer and that was true of these boys.”

Evesham collected two other medals at the championships. Aimee Rutherford, competing in the women’s junior 17 single sculls event, won a bronze medal.

The wind blew Rutherford off course just off the start but she recovered her composure to pull away from three competitors.

She finished in third place behind competitors from Tees and Deben Rowing Clubs.

The third Evesham medal of the event was a bronze for 19-year-old Rory Sullivan, who rowed in the under-23 open double with Stuart Sykes from Hollingworth Lake.

A further three Evesham crews reached finals at the championships.

Head coach Jane Sullivan said she was pleased with the club’s performance with 50 per cent of the finalists winning medals.

She said: “The event has shown areas where we can improve.”