ROWERS from St Peter’s School in York returned from the Ghent International Regatta in Belgium with a clutch of medals.

The 26-strong squad spent two days training followed by two days of intense racing in the Belgian national championships.

Racing over the full Olympic distance of 2,000 metres on a five-lane course gave the crews their first experience of side by side racing this year.

More than 1,500 rowers from eight nations were represented and St Peter’s rowers won one bronze, one silver and one gold medal.

The J18 girls’ coxless four of Harriet Falshaw, Katie Hinton, Alice Appleby and Holly Harrison finished third, less than two seconds off second place.

The J18 boys’ coxed four secured another third place with Chris Andrews, Rob Hulmes, Jonny Fry and Sam Philpott, coxed by Emily Gray, having an exciting tussle with six other crews.

The girls’ pair of Falshaw and Hinton won a bronze medal in their first race, keeping the fourth-placed crew behind them all the way down the course.

The girls’ eight, rowing in the open women’s event, had a great race with the City of Oxford crew who had beaten them the day before. The St Peter’s girls found extra reserves and pulled away to win gold by four seconds.

The J16 boys’ eight of Maceij Psuich, Stan Schofield, Rob Doyle, Jack Robins, Ollie Millman, Alex Woodruff, Tom Collinson and Josh Ramalingham, coxed by Peter Gray, produced a fine performance to come home at 38 strokes per minute to win the silver medal.

The J16 boys’ four raced well above their pace of the first day. The four of Woodruff, Schofield, Robins and Millman, coxed by Emily Gray, clinched gold.