Walton Rowing Club’s Matthew Tarrant took a giant leap along the road to the 2016 Olympics by claiming men’s pairs gold at the U23 world rowing championships in Lithuania on Sunday.
 

The 22-year-old Oxford Brookes University Boat Club star, who started rowing at Weybridge Rowing Club,  teamed up with partner Kieren Emery to finish ahead of South Africa and Germany.
 

“Winning the gold has been a burning ambition for me ever since my first      taste of representing Great Britain at the Junior Worlds in 2007,” he said.
 

“When crossing the line in first position, all the emotion that had been built up over the past six years could be released. It felt amazing.”
 

Newly elected Oxford University Boat Club president Alexander Davidson came within touching distance of a medal in Olympic year at the world U23 rowing championships in Lithuania.
 

The Weybridge-based 21-year-old was in the men’s eight crew that finished fourth in their final in Trakai on Sunday.