WYE rowers raced to a brilliant six medals at the British Rowing Championships ahead of Saturday's Home Countries Regatta in Cardiff, where they will all be racing for Wales. Monmouth racers took gold in the U18 men's coxed fours and coxless pairs at Nottingham's National Water Sports Centre, silver in the coxless four and three bronzes in the girls' U18 eights, quads and fours. Monmouth School's Huw Richards, Rob Tod and cox Harry Davies showed the golden class of Beijing- bound Old Monmothian Tom Lucy by storming home first in their six-boat U18 fours final with Monmouth Comprehensive's Louis Paterson and Kingston's Ben Myers. Richards and Davies won the same event last year and were determined to retain their British crowns. They started steadily to go through 500m half a length down on York outfit St Peters with Bedford School another half length back in third, and then cut through the leaders in the second quarter to hit half way a length and a quarter in front. With 500m to they were out of sight eight seconds clear of RGS Worcester in second and came home to take gold by three lengths in 7 minutes 23.53 seconds with the Severn outfit second and St Peters in bronze. "We started steadily and just got on our cruising pace and came flying through," said Richards after winning gold in the same event for the second year and taking silver earlier in the day in the coxless event. "We felt we should have won the coxless final and we were determined to nail this one." Silver in the coxless boat had come two hours earlier with Myers, Monmouth School's Callum Kinloch and Shrewsbury's Joe Bennett. They raced neck-and-neck with Maidenhead all the way and could have won but for some steering problems that saw them veer into the Thames crew's lane twice. Maidenhead had a canvas at 500m and half way and had stretched it to half a length with 500m to race where Richards' boat started to charge back, but were warned to get back in their lane. The diversion proved too much to overcome and the Berkshire boat won in 6 minutes 55.33 seconds by two-thirds of a length. But Monmouth School's Rodrigo Pearse was also on the gold standard with Shrewsbury GB U18 cap Ed Whitehead, winning the pairs title in commanding style. The duo tracked Reading through the first 500m, lying half a length back with a few feet on Hampton in third. But a push at 750m took them flying past and they hit half way three-quarters of a length up and never looked back, pulling away to win by four lengths in seven minutes 47.14 seconds with Reading in silver and Maidstone coming through for bronze. "We only got together last week, so hopefully we can iron a few things out before the Home Countries," said Pearse. "We were slightly down off the blocks, but we started to move through comfortably and just eased away." Haberdashers' Monmouth's Pip Christie - daughter of two-time GB Olympic rower Neil - and Anna Peace had started the medal-ball rolling in their Welsh U18 girls' quadruple scull with Marlow's Alice Denyer and Yarm's Bethan Walters. Racing into a stiff cross headwind, they were third all the way in their six-boat final, coming close to overhauling the Scottish composite at the three- quarter way 1500m mark, but finally finishing a length back in bronze in 7.42 with a Canford/Henley crew two lengths up in gold. Illness in the U18 girls' coxed four final saw Haberdashers' cox Nora Jaafar move into a rowing seat alongside school crewmates Kiah Bassett, Hannah Tyers and Avon's Hannah O'Driscoll with Ella Richards taking over the steering duties. But it didn't stop them making the podium as they went through 500m in third shadowing leaders Lady Eleanor Holles and George Heriot's School. Another Habs/Monmouth Comprehensive crew got within a third of a length with 500m to race, but they held them off to finish clear-water ahead in 8.33, with the Scots in silver two lengths up and Hampton-based Holles another two in front in gold. Jaafar then returned to the tiller for the girls' U18 eights final, with Bassett, Tyers and O'Driscoll joined on board by Habs' Ferielle Jarrett, Monmouth Comprehensive's Jo Clarke and Hannah James, Monmouth RC's Rhian Truman and Avon's Katie Wilson. And once again they struck bronze, pulling clear of a Nottingham/Tees composite in the second half to finish third in eight minutes dead, two lengths down on Eleanor Holles and another two-and-a- half back on a Maidenhead/Rob Roy crew. There were also some near misses by local rowers, with Pippa Christie finishing fourth in a tough U18 singles final and Monmouth Comprehensive's Lucy Clarke, Kathryn Ing, Meghan Rose Rigby and Susannah Price placing sixth in U16 quad sculls and Georgia Hancock and Sarah Reed finishing fifth in U15 doubles. Monmouth Rowing Club are looking to run a new beginners series for men and women of all ages. Anyone who wants to have a go and learn to row should contact club secretary Mike Rogers on 01600 715006. __________________________________________________
