LUCY Burgess, from Northwich Rowing Club, has been selected to represent Great Britain at next week’s World Under 23s Championships in Italy.

The 20-year-old, who competes at the event for the first time, will be part of a women’s quad scull along with Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne, Holly Nixon and Jo Wratten.

They have enjoyed success already since starting to train together, reaching the final of the Princess Grace Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta where they finished as runner-up to the current British senior crew.

Victories at Metropolitan Regatta and Henley Women’s Regatta preceded an encouraging performance at the Holland Beker in Amsterdam.

There, they took on boats from hosts Netherlands, China and the Unites States that had raced at world cup regattas earlier in the season.

Burgess, who is coached by Jed Barlow at Northwich, has competed at two World Junior Championships – in 2011 and again the following year – in Great Britain’s colours.

On both occasions, she stroked a quad scull to seventh overall.

In 2013, she won a gold medal in a four at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival.

Meanwhile ex-Grange School Rowing Club star Tom Ford, a student at Newcastle University, will race in the men’s eight.

Now 21, he was part of a coxed four that won the Prince Albert Challenge Cup at Henley.

Ed Grisedale, a member at Northwich when he was picked to row for Great Britain at the World Junior Championship, is in the eight too.

The 20-year-old helped Oxford Brookes University to victory in the Temple Challenge Cup, for student eights, at Henley.

The British team, featuring 50 rowers, will take on rivals across 13 boat classes.

Racing in Varese is scheduled to start next Wednesday, July 23.