Pendle rower and former Royal Marine combines with Lauren Rowles to take gold in the PR2 mixed double sculls at Lake Bled

The former Green Beret Royal Marines commando combined with Lauren Rowles to take gold in the PR2 mixed double sculls at Lake Bled, Slovenia.

Stevenson helped Paralympic champion Rowles regain the title she last won in 2021.

“This is what it’s all about,” said the 38-year-old. “We executed our plan well, there were a couple of bits in the race I wasn’t too proud of, but it’s exciting that we can go even quicker.

“I was just flying on adrenaline! I’ve enjoyed the process and it’s my first experience of this event and everything that comes with it, so it’s been a learning curve.”

Stevenson and Rowles took the lead from the start and never looked back, dominating the 2km race to take victory in a world best time of 8 minutes 2.94 seconds.

There were nearly six seconds ahead of the Dutch crew that won silver with Ukraine taking bronze in choppy conditions on Lake Bled.

Rowles said: “We wanted to go out there and prove a point and put a performance on the table that shows what this event is about.

“We think the record time has been a bit stagnant for a few years now and we felt we needed to push it on. We wanted to push the event on and bring others with us.”

The next focus for the pair will be September’s World Championships in Belgrade, where they can qualify their boat for the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.

Rowles said: “This is one of those days you look back on in your career and think it was very special.

“Gregg and I have had so much fun rowing together, it’s been an absolute blast.

He turns up every single day with the determination and perseverance that makes the boat go faster and it’s given me the lease of life to do the same.”

British Rowing is the governing body for the sport and is responsible for the development of rowing in England and the training and selection of rowers to represent Great Britain.

The GB Rowing Team is supported by the National Lottery Sports Fund. To find out more, and to follow the team, head to https://www.britishrowing.org/