Ross Rowing Club members were in action at two regional and one national event over the weekend.

On Saturday the Club's core squads went to Bridgnorth Regatta to compete over a 500 metre course. Victories were recorded for Chris Jones in lm3 single sculls, and Ellie Blackwood in J15 1x. A further win came from Catrin Morris and Zoe Sarjant in WJ13 double sculls. The biggest cheer of the day went to the Ladies Novice IV of Karen Blackwood, Dawn Evans, Jackie Baynham and Geraldine Collier, coxed by Dan Ruck. The ladies beat off opposition from Bewdley and Evesham to achieve their first win.

On the same day a small contingent from the performance groups attended Loughborough Regatta at the national Water Sports Centre at Holme Pierre Point.

The crews set up to test themselves over the 1000 metre multilane course. Lucy Jones and Morgan Baynham Williams in WJ15 2x rowed exactly to their race plan and gained valuable race experience.

Ellie Grindle and Amy Surman on WJ13 2x were against stiff opposition from Norwich and Newark. The crew dominated their event from start to finish and gained valuable confidence in their preparation for the national Championships.

On Sunday the men's veterans' squads were competing in the National Veterans Championships over the 1000 metre course at Holme Pierre Point. The squad has been focusing on becoming truly competitive at this event and they did not disappoint.

The event started well, Steve Randell and Phil Davies dominated their semi-final to gain an excellent lane draw for their final in which they were placed 5th. Steve and Phil then teamed up with Paul Carpenter and Anthony Dixon Gough with Morgan Baynam Williams coxing to compete in the men's Vet B coxed fours.

Having made an excellent start and leading for almost the entire length of the course, the brave crew were only just caught on the line by a strong Nottingham crew and had to settle for a silver medal. However this was an exceedingly good result in a very competitive event and the first senior national medal for the Ross Club in recent years.

The veteran D coxed four of Jeremy Picton Turberville, Graham Watling, Paul Brodholt, Dave Sykes and cox, Lucy Jones, were up against some very strong competition including ex-Cambridge boat-race crew members. They had a very clear race plan which was to lead the field and dominate the race. Having made a perfect start they led at both the 250m and 500m markers. At 750m the pack was closing, with only a couple of feet between the leading four crews. In the final push the Ross crew was just edged out of the medals into fourth place by just 1 second!

Overall it was an excellent weekend for the Ross Club. All the squads were represented and achieved success. The Ladies Novice IV was a particularly pleasing result for Ladies' Captain, Sheron Dean Lucas, who said:?"We are delighted for the girls who have put in a lot of work and deserve this result".

Club Captain, Ian Howell, said that the results at the weekend illustrate that the Men's Veteran squad is well on the way towards achieving their goal to become truly competitive at National level.

Next week the Club's Junior Academy development squad will be attending their first Regatta at Stratford and the performance squad will be racing at Thames Valley Park.