TEENAGE rower Clio Aubugeau will be hoping to continue Great Britain's glorious tradition in the sport in years to come after an impressive performance this regatta season.

Stuart Watson

TEENAGE rower Clio Aubugeau will be hoping to continue Great Britain's glorious tradition in the sport in years to come after an impressive performance this regatta season.

Great Britain have once again taken a host of rowing medals at this year's Olympics and Aubugeau-Williams, who primarily competes in discipline of sculling, has confirmed herself at the forefront of the next generation of emerging talent.

The 15-year old Deben Rowing Club member was not offered a place in the single sculls for her age group at the recent Peterborough Summer Regatta so opted to move up a category and compete against the 16 year-olds.

She remained un-phased by her older competitors however and completed a clean sweep of victories.

Conditions throughout the weekend, with a very strong tailwind, saw records tumbling in several events, particularly for the more skilful rowers who where able to cope with the rising waves towards the bottom of the course and maintain their high boat speed.

Drawn in lane one for the 1000m straight final, Aubugeau-Williams' crisp starting pattern gave her a third of a length lead after the first ten strokes.

Building on that lead with long strokes and a settled rhythm in the tail wind, the Deben sculler had increased the margin to two-thirds of a length by halfway and, with a tactical squeeze at 750 metres, sprinted home with a clear water margin in a time of 4.20s - just one second off the course record.

The following day saw an ever-strengthening breeze for the 500m sprint regatta and by mid-morning several crews were struggling with the choppy following waves.

But while some spectacular capsizes ended the chances of several crews, Aubugeau-Williams once again stormed to victory.

Again drawn in lane one, a quick start gave her an immediate lead and a clear view of each of her opponents. Making good use of the strong tail wind her lead increased with every stroke and by halfway there was clear water between the Woodbridge sculler and the rest of the field.

Another powerful finish secured the win to round off a very successful second year of competition racing which has also seen a very creditable sixth place at the National Championships in July.

After a short summer break, Aubugeau-Williams' attention will turn to the National Indoor Rowing Championships, Great Britain trials and a long winter training period.