THE former club mates of double Paralympic champion Laurence Whiteley have been celebrating his achievement back home.

The Northallerton-born rower defended his PR2 mixed double skulls title with partner Lauren Rowles, five years after bringing home a gold medal from Rio.

Mr Whiteley, who was also celebrating his 30th birthday, started his career at Tees Rowing Club before joining the elite squad, which is based in Caversham, near Reading.

READ MORE: Northallerton's Laurence Whiteley wins Paralympic gold

But his former club mates are still very much behind him and were celebrating his victory at their base in Stockton on Sunday.

Coach Greg Beswick, who got up in the early hours to watch the race, said: "It's been tremendous.

"The race itself and the rowers were unbelievable."

"After the times the Chinese and GB teams did in the heat it was set up for a mouth watering final."

He added: "The way they carried out their race plan was unbelievable. They didn't panic. They really believe in each other and back each other up and that was helping them massively.

"I'm fortunate because I can watch it with a clear head. As a coach I always want to learn so I was sitting quietly until the last 500m or so where I wanted to shout them on a bit. I'm not one to jump up and down."

The club was decked out in Union Jack bunting and flags this morning in honour of his achievements.

And many club members had also sent good luck messages and videos of them singing happy birthday to spur him on.

Mr Beswick added: "We're so so proud. He's not just a gold medal winner once, but twice. That's a small group of people. When he goes out we think 'that's our boy'.

"Everyone down at the club has been talking about him and saying how well he's done. We think about Lauren as well because without her he couldn't do the event."

Mr Whiteley, who took up rowing after contracting osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, first went to the Tees club when he was 19, already with ambitions of making it to the top.

He was selected to join the high performance training centre and was part of Team GB at the Rio Paralympics in 2016.

Mr Beswick said the club currently has space for two para rowers and asked anyone interested to get in touch.

The club has had previous success with Caroline McDonald, an indoor world champion and record holder, and Ian Ronald, who competed at the Invictus games.

Mr Beswick said: "The parathletes need adaptive boats, depending on the category but we have at least another two spaces for anyone who wants to row.

"Not necessarily at GB level, it's about the sport. We've been so lucky at Tees Rowing Club with some gifted athletes."

Anyone who is interested in giving it a go can contact the club by visiting www.teesrowingclub.co.uk.

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