Wandsworth went from bridesmaid to bride at the Thames Water London Youth Games Regatta as they finally wrested the rowing title from defending champions Richmond on Saturday at the London Regatta Centre.

With over 900 young competitors from 30 London boroughs taking part, this year’s Regatta is the biggest since its relaunch in 2008 with competitions in rowing, kayak sprint and slalom and sailing.

Wandsworth had finished second to Richmond for the last two years in the rowing competition and they stormed to the title with medals, including three gold, in all but two of the finals.

There were gold medals in both the male and female coxed quads where the Wandsworth crews were able to see off the challenge of Kensington & Chelsea and Richmond respectively.

In the single scull it was Margarita Myskovets, 16, of Putney High School who gave her borough a third gold while there were silver medals for Wandsworth in the male coxed doubles and the mixed quads and a bronze in the mixed doubles.

Speaking after hearing being presented with the rowing trophy, Wandsworth team manager Sam Neal was delighted to have finally gotten the better of Richmond.

He said: “It was absolutely fantastic – we knew they were a good team.  We’ve come second in previous years – it was just about pushing a little bit more this year. It’s great for these guys. They are all very young – it’s a fantastic thing for them to get that winning feeling.

“I think there’s certainly the potential there. It would be nice to think so. We’ll see how we go. We’re feeling pretty ecstatic at the moment.”

There was also very notable bronze for Wandsworth in the kayak sprint competition with Clapham resident Xavier Burgess, 17, coming in third in the Cirrus Senior Male final.

Wandsworth finished 18th overall in the kayak slalom and 14th in the kayak sprint and competed in day 1 of the sailing competition finishing sixth and fifth in the Oppie male and pico mixed classes respectively.

One interested spectator was Olympic rower Charles Cousins who was among the Team GB crew who finished 5th in the quadruple sculls at London 2012. He said: “The biggest thing that’s impressive is how many kids are down here getting involved.

“Just seeing them out on the water they all look like they’ve got smiles on their faces.  My advice is to stick with it.  It might not be rowing and it might not be canoeing but find a sport that you enjoy and that you’re passionate about and stick with it and see where it takes you.

“For me personally, it’s helped me sort my life out. It’s got me into a decent university and got me a scholarship, so a lot of stuff comes with sport.”

The overall winners of the Thames Water London Youth Games Regatta incorporating all water sport disciplines will not be known until day two of the sailing competition which is due to take place at King George’s Reservoir near Lee Valley on Saturday, June 22.

The Thames Water Regatta is part of the wider London Youth Games, Europe’s largest annual youth sports event. A record 104,463 young Londoners took part in the 2012 London Youth Games.

The 2013 London Youth Games will be the biggest in history featuring 85 competitions across 33 sports and 27 event days, culminating in finals week at the National Sports Centre Crystal Palace in July where the overall winning borough are awarded the Jubilee Trophy.

There were 44 former London Youth Games competitors who took part in the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games winning 14 medals, including nine gold from Mo Farah (athletics), David Weir (disability athletics), Bradley Wiggins (cycling), Joanna Rowsell (cycling), Naomi Riches (disability rowing). To find out more and to get involved, visit www.londonyouthgames.org.