The Welsh eight contained Grosvenor's Tim Betteridge, Paul Turner, Ste Callaghan, Iwan Jones and Sarah Armstrong (cox), who were joined by other Welsh squad athletes, Robin Dowell, Dave Donaghy, and Tom Cookman.

Racing against Scotland, England, and Ireland, the Welsh eight pulled into a lead shortly after the start which they extended down the course to record the first Welsh victory in the event for 42 years.

Paul Turner, the Grosvenor Senior Men's coach and previous winner of two gold medals at the Home Countries International Regatta, was also honoured by being made captain of the Welsh team.

"I've won the double sculls twice, but to win the eights for the first time in the heart of the Welsh capital in front of a big crowd is the best of the lot," said six-man Turner.

"We've often been the whipping boys in the bigger boats, but not anymore. The power in the middle of the boat was just amazing and when we hit the last third with three-quarters of a length lead, there was just no way back for the other nations.

"It was pretty rough out there with launch wash and wind blowing off the sea, but every time we had a bit of calmer water we really capitalised and nailed it on the legs.

"We had about a quarter of a length at 500m gone and then just squuezed it out. England tried to hit back in the last third, but by then there was no way back," added the 37-year-old veteran.

The win was a particularly outstanding achievement for Ste Callaghan, who has been rowing for less than three years after learning as a member of the Redgrave's Raw Recruits project, shown on TV last week.

The contribution of Grosvenor members to the Welsh victory rounds off one of Grosvenor's strongest ever seasons, with a 14th place finish at the Head of the River Race, quarter finals finish at Henley, medals at Henley Veterans regatta, and three crews to finals in the National Championships.

Grosvenor will be holding a corporate rowing regatta on September 28, on the Dee.

Teams of four are invited to enter, and will receive coaching leading up to the final round robin regatta, raced from the Bandstand to Grosvenor Rowing Club, with prizes for winning crews. For more details, contact Chris Fawcett on 07970 950794.