ROYAL Grammar School, Worcester rowers enjoyed a highly successful time at the National Rowing Championships, coming away with silver and bronze medals.

With grim weather lashing the country, the competitors had to make three trips to Nottingham through the floods and traffic, but their perseverance was rewarded.

Zoe Thompson, competing in WJ16 single sculls, showed good pace in the time trial to qualify for the final.

The newly-formed coxed four of Chris Horner, Ben Kell, Simon Goldrick, Tom Clark and cox James Higginbottom displayed a lack of race experience together in the J18 fours.

They were one of the slowest boats in qualifying, which meant they started the final in the outside lane.

Thompson's final began well as she threw down the gauntlet to the favourites from Durham and Canford to take an early lead.

The Durham sculler came through strongly to take the lead at half-way, but Thompson never relinquished second place, eventually beating the bronze medallist by six seconds.

The medal was a triumph also for Thompson's coach Paul Sterckx, who could not be there for the race as he was preparing to accompany another of his protégées - Sarah Cowburn of Worcester Rowing Club - to China for the World Championships.

The much-anticipated coxed fours final was one of the last races of the weekend and the RGS crew were not so quick off the start.

In the first 1,000 metres, they were mainly in fourth place and at times fifth, as the time trial had suggested they would be.

But with the lead changing hands in front of them, Clark, in the stroke seat and in his last race for the school, mounted a huge challenge with 500m to go.

The crew pulled back a five-second deficit on Hampton in third place and with 150m remaining they overhauled their rivals and took a further five seconds out of them before the line.

The achievements are all the more impressive given the boats that beat them had all been selected to represent England or Wales in the Home Countries International.