Gold medal in Japan has rower Reed in raptures (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Gold medal in Japan has rower Reed in raptures

OXFORD Blue rower Peter Reed raced to glorious gold at the world rowing championships in Japan as his 'oar-some foursome' produced a devastating display of racing from the front, writes Nick Hartland, from Japan.

"Two minutes before the start, I said eight minutes from now and I'm world champion," said the delighted former Cirencester Deer Park pupil after climbing out of his GB boat at a sweltering hot Nagaragawa course.

He continued, "We were really fired up. We got out hard and pushed with about 800m to go to keep on top of the field and just kept winding it from there.

"Five strokes from the line, I thought the Dutch aren't taking this now. It's ours, and any second now, I'm a world gold medallist.

"I'm exhausted from the build-up and the race, but to be the best in the world, that feels pretty damn special," said the 24-year-old Royal Navy sub-lieutenant.

"It'll take a while to sink in and put into words, but going home as world champ will take some getting used to."

After winning the World Cup going unbeaten at Eton, Munich and Lucerne regattas, plus the 164-year-old Stewards Cup at Henley, Reed's flagship GB four were favourites going to Japan.

Even so, they had yet to face America's crew of Athens 8 Olympic champions.

They won their heat with ease from the Czech Republic and then held off a late challenge from Canada to make the final, where the US and Holland's crew of Olympic silver medallists were waiting to challenge them.

With Olympic champion Steve Williams calling the shots from the bow seat, Oxford Boat Race stroke Andy Hodge setting the rhythm and Alex Partridge supplying power in the three seat, Reed's GB four scorched into an early lead, heading Holland's Olympic silver eights medallists through 500m by half-a-length.

They put down the fastest split times through to the 1500m-mark where they were out to nearly a length on the Dutch with the fancied Americans, Athens gold medal outfit way back in fourth.

"There was a lot of passion at the meeting before the race with lots of strong words from Alex, we were really pumped," explained Reed, whose family live at Nailsworth, near Stroud.

Holland mounted a late bid, chased by Canada for silver, but it was GB's title as they finished two-thirds of a length up on the Dutch with the Canadians in bronze and Denmark, America and the Kiwis well adrift.

Amazingly, Reed - currently completing an engineering post-grad at Oxford - hadn't even rowed a stroke until four years ago.

But an unbeaten 2005 has seen him win the Boat Race, the World Cup, Henley Royal Regatta's Stewards Cup - and now world championship gold.

"It's a little surreal being world champion when I can clearly remember how it felt taking my first stroke. I just used to heave on it, really ugly.

"It's all pretty recent and it's hard to take in how quickly it's happened. It's going to be a bit strange going home to see my parents as a world champ."