WORLD championship rowing medallists Andrew Dangerfield and Gemma Bentham are striving to escape being dry-docked, writes Tony Kelly.

The duo, both members of the thriving St Peter's School Rowing Club, returned from the world junior championships in Italy with hard-earned medals.

But each faces an anxious future in the sport unless they can attract sponsorship.

The 18-year-old Dangerfield, of Huby, won bronze in the single sculls in the world junior championships held at Candia just north of Turin, while 16-year-old Bentham gained silver and bronze in the coxless pairs. Great Britain triumphed overall in the two-day competition.

But now the duo, who have been invited to a GB winter training camp in Seville just before Christmas, have launched a sponsorship appeal for new boats.

University-bound Dangerfield needs a new scull as he has been using someone else's from St Peter's. Bentham, in the lightweight division, needs a new single sculls boat as her pairs-mate Helen Austin will soon be too old to compete.

During her race in Italy Bentham also had the gloss stripped from her medal booty after some of her prized Great Britain clothing was stolen.

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