Appleboom stakes championship claim

Henley Women's Regatta, even in the absence of the Olympic team which is now in training camp, boasted 140 crews who exploited a following wind and a slow stream to set 10 records.

In the open single sculls Elizabeth Gordon led to halfway but was gradually overhauled by Alison Mowbray who in March won the Women's Boat Race on the same course. Mowbray was in front by the time they reached Upper Thames and won by a length in 5min 58sec.

Mowbray's time was eclipsed by Sue Appleboom in the lightweight sculls who won this event for the seventh time, beating Francine Toye in 5min 42sec. It was the fifth time Appleboom,33, had beaten the winning time in the open event. Fourth in the world last year, she is almost certain to be selected for the world championships in Strathclyde two weeks after the Olympics.

The closest final in a regatta which also produced a re-row following a dead heat, came in the junior quadruple sculls where a composite drawn from all over England hung on to win by one foot over King's School Canterbury in the ninth record time of the weekend.

In the eights finals the open and school events were raced between crews from abroad, with St Paul's School, Concord, United States, taking the junior event over Shandon, of Ireland, in another record.

In the open final the lead changed four times with Temple University, of Philadelphia, United States, being warned for steering three times. University College Dublin squeezed in front for the second time within 200 metres of the finish, and with both crews rating more than 40 strokes to the minutes took the verdict by a quarter-length margin.