FORMER Evesham Rowing Club ace Alex Gregory helped Great Britain’s new-look eight to silver medals at the European Championships in Poland.

Wormington’s Gregory, 31, was joined by Chipping Campden’s Matt Gotrel along with Stewart Innes, Pete Reed, Paul Bennett, Mohamed Sbihi, George Nash, Will Satch and cox Phelan Hill in Poznan.

GB beat Germany to the world title in 2013 and 2014, but lost out in this year’s European open men’s ‘A’ final although they remained ahead of Russia, who were the stand-out crew in the heats.

The British crew got a decent start, but the Germans and Dutch were quickest in the opening 100 metres with Russia in the mix too.

GB had moved just 0.02 seconds ahead of the Germans by halfway, but their rivals put in a big surge and took a powerful lead.

Leander Club’s Gotrel, 26, said: “We feel we have learnt a lot. We are pleased to come away with a medal. It puts us in good shape for the summer and it will be exciting to see where we go from here.”