WYE rowers found that pulling on dry land floated their boat as they scooped British and Welsh indoor championship medals.

Racing on the Concept2 ergo rowing machine alongside 1,800 other rowers at the London 2012 velodrome, including Olympic medallists, former Monmouth Comprehensive pupil Hope Henry took the Mizuno British U23 women’s 500m title by just a tenth of a second after an epic battle.

The Swansea University student led Dundee’s Katie Canniford by 0.8secs after 200m, but the lead was down to 0.1secs with 100m to race, where she dug in and just held on to take the crown in 1minute 39.1secs.

Her sprint shaved 0.8secs off her time days earlier at the Welsh Indoors, where she was just squeezed into fourth in the open women’s competition.

And she wasn’t the only Wyedean winner at the British Rowing Indoor Championships, as former Monmouth School pupil and GB world rowing finalist Steve Pearson retained his 50-54 lightweight men’s 2km title in style, leading all the way to come home 4.1secs clear of his nearest rival in 6.38.0.

Monmouth School’s Iwan Hadfield placed a highly creditable fifth in a 67-strong sixth form 2km boys’ field in 6.23.2.

Iwan’s performance followed gold at the Welsh Senior Indoor Rowing Championships at Cardiff Bay Water Sports Centre, where he stormed to the J18 boys’ 2km title as a record 682 rowers contested the event.

Racing in a 22-strong field in front of a giant computer screen showing the progess of ’the boats’, Wales junior cap Hadfield, who is chasing GB junior honours this year, led by 2.6secs after 500m, and came home 6.4secs clear of Llandaff Rowing Club’s George Cowley in 6.24.6.

It was his second national title in 24 hours after powering to the Welsh Schools U18 title the day before at the same venue, where he eased home by 7.6 secs in 6.45.9.

His Monmouth clubmates were also on song at the Schools event, landing gold in the U17 boys’ race, a one-two-three in the U16 event and the U16 team title.

Roan Herbert took the U17 crown by 11.9secs in 6.44.4, while Hamish Lawson landed U16 gold in 6.50.3, followed by Angus Whitehead in silver in 6.54.0 and Rui de Sousa in bronze in 6.57.3.

The U16 trio also teamed up with clubmate Ed Baker to take the U16 team title, raced over four minutes, where Monmouth School covered 1344m to win by 44m from St Julians School, Newport.

In a 42-strong U15s field, schoolmates Ethan Chick placed eighth and Ben Robinson tenth, while Monmouth’s two U15 teams finished a respectable fifth and ninth.