By Jonathan Evans BBC Radio Gloucestershire Blast reporter

Reed (left) and Purchase are expected to compete in New Zealand

Participation in rowing at club level is growing thanks to Olympic success, according to two Gloucestershire clubs.

Local rowers Peter Reed and Zac Purchase both won gold in Beijing.

And Cotswold captain Tony Hines told BBC Gloucestershire: "The profile rowing is getting at Olympic level spurns people's interest."

Gloucester's Russell Thornton added: "People get the connection between gold medals at a major world event and their local rowing club."

Reed and Purchase are expected to be named in the Great Britain team for this autumn's World Championships in New Zealand.

Purchase should compete alongside Marc Hunter in the lightweight double sculls, continuing the partnership from the 2008 Olympics, while Reed has spent the 2010 World Cup season in the pairs with Andy Hodge.

Reed, 29, will be considered a strong medal chance to win gold at London 2012, and he believes the success is being transferred to the sport on a local level.

"There are massive expectations from all of the rowers to produce gold medals and it has a big impact on rowing at a grass roots level," he said.

The Cotswold club was only formed in 2006, and Hines says some youngsters soon see themselves wanting to row competitively.

"We'll get 14-year-olds who are relatively small and in two years having grown and learned the techniques they can row very fast. At that point, it occurs to them that they could achieve success at quite a high level," he said.

By contrast the long established Gloucester club already has two women - Beth Rodford and Natasha Page - who are regular international selections.

Their captain Thornton added: "People who come in and take part often say they want to go to the next level, but whether they go to the Olympics or not, they can relate to the rowers who they see representing us so successfully on television."

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