INDOOR rowing athlete Philip Stubley was on top of the world this week after adding the world champion tag to his list of honours, writes Claire Hughes.

The 65-year-old from Kilburn beat an international field in Boston, America, on Sunday to claim the 65-69 lightweight world title in a time of 7 minutes 11.8 seconds.

And it was a double celebration for the semi-retired businessman with good

friend Geoffrey Knight from Harrogate, who introduced him to the world of competitive indoor rowing, setting a world record in the 70-74 lightweight section on the way to a gold of his own.

Knight, 70, who warmed up for the competition with a gold at the British championships, set a new benchmark of 7-13.4 as he powered to victory.

Said Stubley: "It was a close race - I was behind most of the way but I came back to win by a second.

"It's very satisfying because it was such an exciting race as far as I was concerned. It's nice to be able to call yourself a world champion - especially when you're my age and people think 'at his time in life he should put his feet up and get his slippers on'."

Stubley, whose personal best for 2,000m saw him dip under the seven minute mark with a time of 6-58 three years ago, started indoor rowing to reduce the number of injuries he found he was picking up from the high impact nature of road running and discovered it was a great alternative aerobic exercise.

Since then, he has competed in the national grand prix series across the country, picking up numerous medals on the way, prior to his trip across the Atlantic.

Competitors race head-to-head with an interactive screen showing the distance to the nearest rower in front and the three rowers behind, while spectators watch all the action unfold on a giant screen.

Stubley's next challenge will be a half-marathon endurance epic, and he is also hoping to get out in a real boat on the water.

Scarborough athletes Bob Hewitt and Anne Rivers rowed their way to two gold medals at the Manchester Indoor Rowing Championship.

Hewitt finished in first place in the Men's Junior 18 Lightweight category while Rivers finished in first place in the Women's 40 plus Heavyweight category.

Updated: 11:43 Friday, February 18, 2005