IAN LAWSON secured his second hat-trick in two weeks over Matt Langridge, his fellow Great Britain international, yesterday. He won his third consecutive Wingfield Sculls title from Putney to Mortlake, beating Langridge by 15 seconds, less than a fortnight after winning his third Fours Head title.

Langridge led Lawson and Tom Gale, the other contender, from the Putney start but Lawson surged ahead after two minutes to lead by four seconds at the Mile. “I hit a really good rhythm and went away without having to throw the kitchen sink at it,” he said.

Lawson edged away steadily, but not spectacularly, over the rest of the course. It was the young Langridge’s first appearance in the Wingfields and he kept the pressure on Lawson, with Gale trailing.

Lawson praised Langridge, his Leander club-mate. “Racing head to head over that distance is different from anything you do internationally or domestically,” he said. Langridge agreed that it was “a new experience”. “There is a lot to think about in this race but I’ll be back,” he said.

How much pressure Langridge kept on Lawson was reflected in Lawson’s time of 20min 13sec, the second-fastest in the 163 races held so far, 15sec behind Peter Haining’s effort in 1994. Haining was due to umpire yesterday but dropped out with illness, Wade Hall-Craggs, the 1993 champion, taking the flags.

For the “Championship of the Thames”, this year’s race had a distinctly northern flavour, with Lawson originally hailing from Otley, Langridge from Northwich and Gale from Hexham.

RESULT: 1, I Lawson (Leander) 20min 13sec; 2, M Langridge (Leander) 20.28; 3, T Gale (Tideway Scullers) 20.50.