PHIL Clapp says winning gold at the Royal Henley Regatta was even better than he dreamed it could be.

The 17-year-old Beaconsfield rower was ecstatic after he helped his team beat Peterborough in the final of the Fawley Cup last Sunday.

And the 6ft 9in giant said winning in the composite quad with Maidenhead and Henley is as good as it gets in domestic rowing.

Clapp said: "The atmosphere was brilliant and it was such a good feeling when we got to the finishing line. I was just so relieved that we did not make a mistake and everything went to plan.

"I've been watching Henley for years and to win it is a dream.

"It doesn't get any bigger than winning at Henley in front of 800 people. Some of my close friends and family were there to watch me and it was so loud when we won. It's as big as it gets in terms of domestic rowing to win at the Henley Regatta.

"This win makes all the hard work worth it. I put in about 20 hours each week and I've put everything into rowing. It's not a sport where you can do it half-heartedly.

"It's all or nothing. I chose to do this over everything else."

His team had their hardest test in the semi-finals where they beat much-fancied Sydney. It ended Australia's dominance in the cup after they won it for the last two years.

Clapp, the first Henley gold medalist at Maidenhead RC for 15 years, said: "We knew the toughest race would be against Sydney. After beating them in the semi-finals we felt confident we could win the trophy as long as we did not make any mistakes."

Clapp is currently at the trials in Nottingham for the World Junior Championships. The ambitious youngster, who has been in the GB squad, has already set out short and long term goals for his career.

He said: "I am very hopeful of qualifying for the World Junior Championships in Beijing next month. The rowing facilities are the ones for next year's Olympics and I've heard they are amazing.

"My aim is to win the World Junior Championship and Matt Langridge is a role model because he has already done that. And long term I would love to win the Olympics. It would be amazing to compete in London but that's a long way off."

The rowing prodigy also thanked his coach, Tom Jost, for inspiring him to success at Henley.

He said: "He's been brilliant over the last three years. He's helped me all the way and I'm so grateful to him."