TEESSIDE rowing's successful summer continued as Thornaby 's Chris Boddy won a bronze medal in the lightweight double scull at the European Championships in Italy.

Little more than a month after Tees Rowing Club's Kat Copeland claimed an Olympic gold in the lightweight double, Boddy, who was a member of the same club before moving south two years ago, claimed a major championship medal of his own in the same event.

With none of Britain's Olympic competitors taking part in the European Championships, the regatta was a chance for members of the development group to stake a claim for a place in the senior squad at the start of the next four-year cycle to the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

And 24-year-old Boddy certainly made the most of his opportunity, teaming up with Mikey Mottram to finish third in a field that contained a number of Olympic finalists.

“It was great that the GB rowing team decided to use it as a development competition,” said Boddy, who is now based near Henley. “We took a lot of rowers who were on the cusp of the Olympic squad and it was a great opportunity for people like myself to show what we are capable of.

“The quality of the lightweight double was extremely high. We were rowing against the Portuguese crew that finished fifth in the Olympic final and a Greek crew that contained a rower who had finished seventh in the Olympics and another who is World Under-23 champion.

“There were multiple world medallists and Olympians in the event, so to come away with a bronze medal from such a high-class field means a lot. It's a really good springboard to go into the next four years from a strong position.”

Boddy first took up rowing as a student at Yarm School at the age of 12, although it was only when he joined Tees Rowing Club that he began to harbour ambitions of competing on the national and international stage.

He was part of the GB senior squad in 2009 and 2010, but dropped down the pecking order last year and found himself missing out on selection for the lightweight Olympic squad by one place.

He is determined to secure senior selection for next season's schedule which will include a World Cup event at Eton Dorney and a World Championships in South Korea, and has already turned his long-term attention to Rio having witnessed the excitement of the London Olympics at first hand.

“The Olympics were inspiring for everyone,” he said. “But I think that's especially true if you're someone who hopes to compete in the Games one day.

“I managed to get to Eton Dorney for some of the rowing races and it was incredible. It was easily the most inspiring thing I've ever seen. It just makes you want to go and do it.

“Even just getting the chance to go and compete in the European Championships was a massive thing for me. The grandstands were probably only half the size of the smallest stand at Dorney, but it still gives you a taste of what it might be like.

“I'd love to be competing in the Olympics in four years time. I know it's going to take a lot of hard work and dedication to get there, but that's what I'll be trying to do.”

Boddy was not the only North-East medallist at the European Championships as Chester-le-Street 's William Fletcher claimed a silver in the lightweight men's four.

Fletcher teamed up with Jonathan Clegg, Adam Freeman-Pask and Sam Scrimgeour to finish half-a-length behind winners Italy. Newcastle's Kieren Emery narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing fourth in the men's pair.