GREAT Britain junior international Lucy Burgess was a winner on the water during the Metropolitan Regatta in London on Saturday.

The Northwich Rowing Club star joined forces with Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne (Hartpury College), Holly Nixon (Leander) and Josephine Wratten (Teeside) to win the women’s elite quad on the Olympic course at Dorney Lake.

Their closest rivals in the final, another composite crew, were six seconds adrift.

Burgess, 20, also raced with Hodgkins-Byrne in an double scull on both days of the regatta.

On Saturday the duo claimed second spot in the final, some five seconds adrift of Wallingford’s Brianna Stubbs and Eleanor Piggott.

The result was the same on Sunday, though the gap between the boats by the finish was smaller.

Alex Bain, also of Northwich, was an emphatic victor in a junior men’s single scull at the same event.

Derby’s Guy Playdon was almost 20 seconds further back in second place.

Bain raced too at Eton with Northwich’s in-form junior men’s quad with Finn Lawton, Zak Trigg and Leon Langmead.

The quartet were runners-up behind Star & Arrow in the final, squeezed out by little more than half a second.

Those positions had been reversed in the heats earlier in the day.

“There are four strong crews [in the category] in contention to win at Henley and they’re incredibly close in terms of performance,” said club captain Rachel Hooper.

“It will be down to who can find that extra bit of magic on the day.”

Former Northwich Rowing Club star Ed Grisedale helped an Oxford Brookes University boat to victory in the challenge eights on Sunday - a new format with all crews competing in a time trial during the morning to determine seeding positions for the semi finals later.

Meanwhile Emily Ford, a former Grange School pupil, was part of a composite crew to finish third in the women’s elite coxless four final.

The Newcastle University student, now 19, was joined in the boat by Camilla Hadland (Durham University), Yasmin Tredell (Oxford Brookes) and Katie Bartlett (Nottingham Rowing Club).