GB WORLD gold medal cox Morgan Baynham Williams has swapped the rudder strings for the coaching launch with great success

The Ross Rowing Club star is part of the new coaching team at leading UK club Oxford Brookes, whose first boat finished second in the centenary men’s 8s Head of the River Race in London, just eight seconds behind a Leander 8 powered by the GB world champion four in 16 minutes 56 seconds.

They also saw three more boats make the top 10 of the world’s oldest time-trial, held over the reverse 4 1/4-mile tidal Boat Race course from Chiswick to Putney, including the fastest student boat, and another three in the top 35 of the 375-boat armada.

A Ross RC over-42 mixed 8 also raced over the challenging Thames course 24 hours later in the 298-boat Vesta International Masters Head, placing fifth in their class in 20.13.

On board were Alice Simon, Ellen Phelps, George Smith, Steve Randall, Gareth Robbins, Anthony Dixon-Gough, Alison Barker, Holly Campbell and cox Rachel Wales steering her first Tideway race, while Lisa Robbins, Nicky Wild and Kate Stevens helped them on the day.

Elsewhere, Ross RC’s Fliss Cox stroked the Reading University women’s quadruple scull to Intermediate class victory by 42 seconds at the British Universities and Colleges Championship Head on the River Tyne, heading a 38-boat class field in 17.14, which would have placed them second in the Championship class.

Club mate Annabel Pope also rowed for the York University’s 3rd eight, while Jessie Punn coxed Manchester University’s IM men’s 8 to 21st in class in 16.37

Jessie also guided her Manchester senior women’s crew to 82nd out of 330 in the Women’s 8s Head over the reverse Boat Race course in 20.31, and two weeks later on the same stretch steered the university’s men to 153rd in the Head of the River in 19.23.