Olympic rower Ben Hunt-Davis, who won gold for Britain as part of the men's eight at Sydney, did the honours at a naming ceremony for a new boat sponsored by Yorkshire Water.
The racing four has been added to the fleet at Bradford Amateur Rowing Club thanks to a £4,000 donation from the water company.
Hunt-Davis, pictured with club president Hugh Scott, left, christened the new boat 'RiverCaire' to reflect the name given by YW to its environmental programme. Its £400 million scheme is to improve the quality of river water including that of the River Aire, where Bradford rowing club trains.
The vitally-needed boat is suitable for lightweight women and junior rowers. The club, based at Saltaire, is the only open membership rowing club in West Yorkshire, and is part of the nationwide Project Oarsome to promote rowing among state school youngsters.
The YW donation was boosted by the Sportsmatch scheme which provides pound-for-pound matching of contributions made by businesses, and is aimed at promoting sports schemes for young people, those with disabilities, ethnic minorities, schools and women and girls.
Club member Stephanie Walden said: "Ben's visit was an inspiration to us all, especially to the youngsters who are so important for the future of our sport. We have a growing number of youth members who come from all walks of life."
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