A BODELWYDDAN rower has taken the top spot on the podium at a high profile international tournament.

Lucy Iball, 25, represented Wales and took first place in the lightweight double at the annual Home International Regatta at the National Rowing Centre in Cork, Ireland and will now set her sights on a spot on Team GB.

With fellow Welsh rower Rebekah Edgar, the talented pair won the race with an impressive seven-second lead after being in second place during the first half of the race.

Lucy, who was representing Wales at the international competition for the second time, said: “It was an amazing feeling to win with Rebekah and it has made all the hard training and early starts worth it.

“Stepping up on to the podium, representing my country, holding the Welsh flag and hearing the national anthem was a very proud moment and I think this win has been the most important of my rowing career so far.

The Home International Regatta is an annual competition that sees junior and senior crews from across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales compete against each other.

Lucy, a Chester Grosvenor Rowing Club athlete, also achieved an impressive third place in the lightweight single. Impressively, the former Connah’s Quay High School pupil only took up the sport at Durham University six years ago and has been training intensively with aspirations to make Team GB.

Last year she participated in the Team GB trials finishing ninth in the lightweight women’s single - before having to withdraw from the next stage of this year’s trials due to illness.

Speaking from a hiking holiday in the Slovenian Alps, she said: “I will have a short break away from rowing now and then be back in ‘easy’ training in a couple of weeks, preparing for the start of the racing season.

“The racing season will not be underway properly until October and my next big focus will be the GB trials in November.

“Nothing is a given but I am hopeful that my win at the Home International Regatta will show the selectors that I am capable of rowing well and I will just continue to train as hard as I can to make sure I am in the best possible shape ahead of the trials.”