A COACH from Northwich Rowing Club inspired a sculler to win two medals during a European regatta over the weekend.

Rachel Hooper guided Jane Hardie, a teenager from George Heriot’s School in Edinburgh, to a pair of A finals at the Coupe de la Jeunesse in Belgium.

The youngster took bronze on Saturday after finishing second in her heat to eventual winner Georgia O’Brien (Ireland) in the women’s single scull.

She improved to rank second overall behind Virginie Liot (France) at Hazewinkel the following day.

Beth Willford-Dutton, also of Northwich, stroked a women’s quad including Abbie Bird (Marlow), Siobhan Samuel (Globe) and Carter Nelson (Latymer Upper School) to a pair of sixth-place finishes at the same event.

They won their head on Saturday ahead of rival crews from France and Italy, only to trail both of those boats in the A final.

The combination qualified again after classifying in their qualifier the next day.

Great Britain took home eight golds as they topped the points table, well clear of Italy in a repeat of the order from 2016.

The women’s eight started proceedings on Friday with a fine silver medal, with 10 more gongs added on Saturday.

A gold followed for the men’s eight to conclude a successful weekend, increasing the team’s tally to 22.