Helen Casey spearheaded a strong Oxfordshire challenge in the Great Britain final trials to uphold her claims for a place in the Olympic team for Beijing, writes Mike Rosewell.

Lightweight Casey, from Wallingford, won the sculling trials for the third year running. In spite of her eight years of international representation, Casey has been rebuilding her technique.

She was pleased with the outcome. She said: "I have always used my strength in the past to get me through, but I knew that I had to improve my technique."

Three other Wallingford women - heavyweights Alice Freeman, Lindsay Maguire and Briony Cavell - featured strongly in the women's pairs.

Freeman raced with her Oxford Brookes partner Carla Ashford, and came in with the fastest time, while Maguire and Cavell finished fourth.

The 2007 world lightweight coxless four champions Richard Chambers and Paul Mattick, from Oxford Brookes and Wallingford respectively, finished second and fifth in the hotly contested men's lightweight sculls.

Some missed the trials due to illness, the most notable being triple world champion Frances Houghton, from Wheatley.

The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race crews flexed their muscles on the Tideway last weekend.

Both were successful - Oxford against a crew of American stars, including former Boat Race participants, and Cambridge against Molesey crew, the latter perhaps more renowned for their experience rather than current form.

Sean Bowden, Oxford's coach seemed happy regarding the exercise as " a good work out in challenging conditions".