A TRIO of local rowers have flown to Slovenia as part of Great Britain’s elite squad for the 2011 World Championships.

Former Chester King’s School pupils Tom James and Chris Bartley are joined by Vicky Thornley, from Holt, near Wrexham, a former Abbey Gate College student.

The championships, which begin this Sunday and run for a week, double as a qualifying regatta for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in London.

Olympic champion James, who was raised in Wrexham and began his rowing career on the River Dee, will compete in Bled in the men’s four with 2009 world champions Matt Langridge, Ric Egington and Alex Gregory.

Bartley, of Farndon, is in the lightweight men’s four with Rob Williams, Paul Mattick and Richard Chambers.

Thornley, a former semi-professional show jumper, has made the final cut during training camps for the women’s eight and will stroke the boat in Bled.

They will be seeking to finish in the top five to book a London place.