​Matlock rower Wilkes is European champion again

​Wilkes combined with Freddie Davidson, Matt Aldridge and David Ambler to deliver a dominant performance in Szeged, Hungary.

The boat that finished an agonising fourth at the Tokyo Olympics now counts five gold medals from five when it comes to Championship racing in the Paris 2024 cycle.

The new-look crew suffered their first-ever defeat at the World Cup in Varese earlier this month and Wilkes believes they are yet to put together the perfect regatta.

“We know it’s getting closer to the important one at the end of the year,” said Wilkes. “You’ve always got that in the back of your head but it’s not always useful to look at it that way.

“We’ve just got to improve every day. We’re not doing anything perfectly, by any means, we’re looking for quite a lot more speed. We’re progressing well and it’s good to come away better than we did in Varese.”

A fierce headwind made for tough going on Hungarian waters but the British four conquered tough conditions to prove they were the class of the field. Sitting third after 500 metres of the 2000m course, they surged through to take victory by around 2.5 seconds.

Wilkes said: “We just settled into a rhythm we felt we could hold. We didn’t try to do anything special out of the blocks, because we knew it was a long race.”

The GB Rowing Team enjoyed a fantastic weekend overall and finished top of the medal table with eight golds, one silver and one bronze.

Wilkes and team will race once more before the Olympics at the World Cup in Lucerne in May.

Aldridge added: “We had some clear focuses from Varese that worked for us but we’re not totally happy with where we are. It’s nice we can see positive change but now it’s a case of doubling down, doing even better and keep building the speed. We don’t want to be too satisfied with anything.”

British Rowing is the governing body for the sport and is responsible for the development of rowing in England and the training and selection of rowers to represent Great Britain. The GB Rowing Team is supported by the National Lottery Sports Fund. To find out more, and to follow the team, head to https://britishrowing.org/