HEREFORD Rowing Club reaped the rewards of a long, hard winter's training with a total of eight wins at Evesham Regatta, a two-day event held on the River Avon.

The course on Saturday was held over 1,000 metres upstream where the men's senior 2 coxed four of Mike Gardner, Nigel Birch, Sol McLeod and Andrew Osborne, coxed by Sean Blake, prevailed over crews from Stratford upon Avon and Bridgnorth to win the Avon Challenge Vase, also known as The Big One'.

The women's senior 3 double sculls event was won by Charlie Stewart and Kate Tatchel where the girls beat off three other crews, including Eton Excelsior, in the final.

Jamie Coombes and Alex Deutsch won the junior 18 double sculls event over Monmouth Comprehensive School BC and Bewdley in a nail-biting final.

On Sunday, the sprint regatta course held over 500 metres downstream saw an impressive double win for the men's veteran C coxed four of Rod Phillips, Phil Hart, Richard Bissell and Chris Jones, coxed by Daniel Hart.

The crew entered and won both the veteran C coxed four event and the senior 2 coxed four events, beating Warwick and Evesham in their finals.

Jamie Coombes and Alex Deutsch won the junior 18 double scull event again, triumphing over the same crew from Bewdley.

The women's senior 3 coxed eight of Jo Ellis, Zoe Jones, Debbie Probert, Nikki Marriott, Emma Poole, Veronica Preedy, Jules Simpson and Lucy Head, coxed by Robin Morris, who made significant progress at the Women's Head of the River Race recently, were victorious in their event, beating Llandaff and then Worcester in the final.

Emma Poole, Veronica Preedy, Jules Simpson and Lucy Head, coxed by Robin Morris, had a double celebration by winning the women's senior 3 coxed four event against three crews, including Warwick, in their final.

In addition to these wins, several other crews got through to the final rounds of their events but were just beaten at the finishing line. These included Andrew Osborne in the men's novice single scull, Jamie Coombes in the junior 18 single scull, both on Saturday, and Alex Deutsch in the junior 18 single scull on the Sunday.