Kingston Royals Dragon Boat Club celebrated its 21st birthday in style on Sunday by becoming National Champions.

The club took home the National Ladies and National Mixed Championships at the races held in Nottingham. It’s the seventh time in eight years that the Club has won the ladies championship.

Rounding off a superb day for the club, its second crew, the Kingston Pretenders, won the Plate competition.

The results came after a frustrating day for the Club on Saturday. After the preliminary rounds, the Club was leading the 200m sprint Plate and Ladies’ competitions when gale force winds forced racing to be cancelled.

“It’s the perfect birthday present and just reward for our members who have trained so hard this summer,” said club chairman Stephen Lewis.

"In the last year we have concentrated on increasing the number of qualified coaches in the club, and have also invested in a new clubhouse and gym facility, and it's great to see our efforts bearing fruit."

54 club members paddled, drummed and helmed the crews to victory at the National Watersports Centre.

The only competition which remained outside the Club’s grasp was the Open Cup competition, where the crew finished third, only two seconds behind the winners, Liverpool-based Amathus DBC.

“We’re two seconds away from a hat trick and that will be the target next year,” said captain Peter Langworthy.

There's no time for the Kingston paddlers to rest though, as the Club now attention now turns to the gruelling series of winter time trials held every month on the Thames at Henley.

The club is also running a series of open mornings for new paddlers; details are at www.kingstonroyals.com