ROWING’s new golden boy Laurence Whiteley has delighted his fans in the region with his Paralympic gold medal – and his former coach has paid tribute to his hard work.

Greg Beswick, his former coach at Tees Rowing Club, said members of the club cheered Mr Whiteley, 25, on from his Team GB high performance training centre in Caversham, near Reading.

Mr Beswick said: “He came to the rowing club in 2011 with his dad because we are a centre of excellence in Paralympic rowing.

“I could tell he was very athletic, and had been a swimmer before deciding to move into rowing – and after we spoke about what his goals were and what we expected, I knew he had the potential to do well.”

“Over the next couple of years he learnt basic rowing, progressed to club level competition and quickly on to competitive and then performance rowing. It was not long before Team GB noticed him and he was picked for the development squad.

“Then he left me and went to Caversham to train, but it took a long time for them to find someone to partner him with, because there are not many international competitions for single rowers.

“He has only been rowing with Lauren Rowles for around 18 months so for them to achieve gold is remarkable.”

Mr Beswick said he, the club, and all Mr Whiteley’s friends and family are understandably very proud of his success.

He said: “He keeps up his membership for the club and makes time to come back and see us. “It is fantastic for us to watch someone we know so well compete in the Paralympic Games, and we hope it will inspire more rowing clubs to welcome more para rowers.”

Mr Beswick said Tees Rowing Club, which has two para rowing coaches, currently has space for two para rowers.

He added: “His parents are out in Rio and I spoke to them yesterday – they are obviously so proud to see him achieve what he has been working so hard for.”

Mr Whiteley, who waited two and a half years for GB Rowing Team to find a suitably-classified athlete to race with him, said: “I don’t think I can sum up the emotions.

"It was two and a half years of thinking every day that it would be alright in the end.

"There were days when I could have walked away some days but for the end prize to be Paralympic gold, I would have done it again in a heartbeat."

Mr Whiteley will join other Hambleton medal-winning athletes in having a special plaque with his name on in Northallerton’s Town Square.

“We not only want to mark Laurence’s achievements but also those of all our athletes over the last few years,” said council leader, Cllr Mark Robson.