ALEX Gregory triumphed for Great Britain men’s eights at the World Rowing Championships in Aiguebelette, France.

Ex-Evesham club member and Olympic champion Gregory, 31, was joined by Matt Gotrel, Constantine Louloudis, Pete Reed, Paul Bennett, Mohamed Shihi, George Nash, Will Satch and Phelan Hill.

They wrote a new chapter in British men’s eights history with a hat-trick of suc - cessive world gold medals in the event.

The defending world cham - pions of 2013 and 2014 held off rivals Germany by just two-10ths of a second on Lake Aiguebelette in five minutes 36.18 seconds.

They were in lane three alongside the Germans, who they experienced several close races with this season, including a victory at the last World Cup in Lucerne.

The GB combination could not discount any of their other rivals, including New Zealand, in lane one.

The British boat started well but the Russians were quickest off the mark. As the crews settled to racing pace, the GB crew edged into the lead.

They chewed up the third 500m as the battle with Germany reached fever pitch.

Germany clawed their way back and fell just two-10ths of a second short of overpowering GB.

Sir David Tanner, GB Rowing team performance director, said: “The men’s eight winning gold was a great way to finish.

“With our medals, our 12 Olympic slots and four Paralympic slots we can now look forward to stepping on next year to a top performance in Rio at both events.”

GB topped the medal table with New Zealand finishing in second place and Germany third. Their tally of five golds, nine silvers and a bronze compared to four golds, four silvers and two bronzes in Amsterdam in 2014.

Bromsgrove teenager Lauren Rowles enjoyed a GB Rowing team debut beyond her wildest dreams with a medal at the World Championships qualifying her boat for the Rio 2016 Paralympics.

The 17-year-old partnered Laurence Whiteley to a stunning silver behind Australia in the trunk-arms mixed double scull in Aiguebelette just six months after taking up the sport.

“The dream outcome was for us to make the ‘A’ final but, for us to do this (win a medal), no words can explain it,” said Rowles.

“We just kept pushing and pushing for that line and the outcome was immense.”

Former Commonwealth Games wheelchair track athlete Rowles and Whiteley have only been training together for three months.

But they secured the top- eight place needed to qualify for Rio 2016 by winning their repechage.