EVESHAM Junior 15 rowers took Henley-on-Thames by storm last Saturday when they claimed the top three places in the single sculling event and top spot in the coxed quad at the Henley Sculls Head.

This prestigious annual event is staged over 3,000m on one of the most famous stretches of river in the world and gave the lads their first taste of competing on a world-class regatta site.

The gales forecast held off long enough for all the crews to compete in good weather, although rowing upstream and into a slight headwind meant technique had to be perfect to avoid catching blades on the water.

With 22 competitors in the J15 single sculls, winning was never a certainty. Oli Staite, however, put in a magnificent push to finish the course in 14 minutes and three seconds just a couple of seconds ahead of Will Tew with the pair reversing their finishing positions from the previous week at Marlow.

Rory Sullivan finished a creditable third with a time of 14.11.

Earlier in the day Staite, Tew and Sullivan had teamed up with Danny Sadler, at bow, and Adam Fensome, coxing, in the quad.

This was the first time this crew had rowed at an event tog-ether since their silver medal win at National Championships in the summer.

The boys were the strongest crew on the water and pulled through to claim victory in a time of 12.56 beating their Hen-ley rivals by almost a minute.

The J14 coxed quad also put in a winning performance as the crew of Rob Barnett, Jon Farrar, Ben Farrar, and Jordan Bunyan, coxed by Alex Shirra, rowed to first place in a time of 13.44, beating their Marlow rivals by four seconds.

Fellow J14 single sculler Tom Noble came in third against str-ong competition from St Neots and Claires Court School.

Competition was heaviest in the J16 and 18 events with many of the scullers gearing up for Great Britain selection trials later this month.

Tom Walker, competing aga-inst 44 other J16 single scullers, came home in a time of 13.50 to take a creditable seventh place.

At J18, Ali Gregory clocked 13.36 to leave him fourth out of 55 competitors while Most's time of 14.01 placed him tenth.