ABINGDON’S juniors were the sole local success story at the Gloucester Regatta, writes John Wiggins.

The club’s J15 quad comprising Esther Harkness, Naimh Mallett, Erin Gebhart, Kerry Whelan and cox Pippa Mentzel produced a superb display to pick up the title.

Two other Abingdon crews made finals, but neither were able to add to their clubmates’ medal haul.

Elsewhere, Oxford Brookes University have appointed Dan Janes as their new women’s head coach.

He takes over from Allan French who, in his six years in charge, has steadily built up the squad to be one of the strongest university clubs in the country.

Janes moves across from Cambridge University, where he has masterminded six successive Boat Race victories for his lightweight crew.

Ahead of racing this weekend in Brest, Belarus, a squad of 12 has been named for the U23 European Championships and include the Oxford Brookes’ pair of Sam Nunn and Henry Blois-Brooke.

Nunn was in Brookes’ winning eight at Henley and in the silver medal-winning four at the World U23 Championships earlier this month.

While the proud possessor of a bronze medal from the GB junior eight in 2017, Blois-Brooke has yet to hit the international podium this year.

But he promises much, having raced in Brookes’ Henley Temple crew and in the fifth-placed GB four at the U23 World Championships.