MARLOW rowers struck gold at last week's World Cup in Vienna as Great Britain topped the medal table.

Cath Bishop and Katherine Grainger returned as winners while Lisa Eyre came home with silver.

Bishop and Grainger, a new combination in the women's pairs, qualified second behind Belarus, but turned the tables on the East Europeans in the final with a blistering performance.

The Belarus boat led to the 500 metre point of the final before the British duo fought back over the second 500metres where they were four seconds faster than any of their rivals.

Bishop and Grainger consolidated their lead over the second 1,000 and looked a class above their rivals as they cruised home in eight minutes 26 seconds, a good two lengths clear of the field.

Both athletes then teamed up with the Great Britain women's eight who were racing as Nautilus at Henley Royal regatta this week.

There was also silver medal for Lisa Eyre in the women's quad sculls, behind the Ukrainian crew.

Eyre's boat seemed to have the measure of the Ukrainians, but they lost their momentum when they hit rough water in the final 500m and the Ukraine crew took advantage of their problems to pip them by a fraction of a second.