JESS Crossman was the toast of Ross Rowing Club when 10 junior members took part in the Pangbourne Junior Sculls.

At the event, for 14- year-olds and above over a 3,000-metre course, she won her junior-14 singles event, and along with third-placed clubmate Catrin Morris recorded faster times than most of the boys in the same age group, where Johan Lai finished in runners-up spot.

Crossman and Morris teamed up in the afternoon and finished third in the pairs race.

Charlotte Leach and Kerry Meek came sixth in the J16 doubles while Lucy Jones finished eighth out of 13 in her singles event.

The J14 fours crew of Lai, George Probert, Nick Burden and Dale Kernot along with Skye Jenkins, a late substitute as cox, produced a rousing finish in second place, just three seconds behind Marlow. They were well adrift with 600 metres to go but, with plenty of encouragement from the bank, closed the gap.

Two crews represented Ross at the Veterans Fours Head of the River competition over the Boat Race course between Chiswick and Putney.

Defending champions, Paul Carpenter, Steve Randell, Philip Davies and Anthony Dixon- Gough, along with cox Morgan Baynham- Williams, finished fourth this time in the category B race.

The ladies crew of Nicky Wild, Dawn Evans, Annie Williams and Rowena Pollock, coxed by Sheron Dean-Lucas, were rowing together on the Tideway for the first time. They also finished in fourth place in category C.

The Junior Academy took 35 athletes to the British Indoor Rowing Championships where more than half the rowers achieved personal bests.

Although the squad failed to pick-up any medals there were good performances from newcomer Charlotte Morris (fifth in the Junior-15 event), Johan Lai (11th at J14) and Will England (11th at J15).

Three crews took part in the Evesham, Head of the River race, and they all returned home with medals despite the very cold conditions.

Jeremy Picton- Turbervill, Graham Watling, Paul Brodholt and Dave Sykes, coxed by Lucy Jones, set the standard by winning the Men’s Masters D event, which requires an average age of 50.

They may well have been very close to the Masters class record for the course had they not been hampered by some overhanging branches midway through the contest. They still finished 30 seconds clear of the runners-up.

Geraldine Calcraft and Holly Campbell not only matched them in the Women’s Intermediate 3 double scull class, but set a new class course record. Calcraft and Campbell then teamed up with Emily Preece and Georgina Watling, plus cox Rhodri Morris, to win the Women’s Senior coxed four by 15 seconds.

● ROSS Rowing Club’s veteran single sculler Mike Jones took a course record for the 55 to 60 age category at the Head of the Avon Gorge in Bristol.

Jones raced over four and a quarter miles in freezing conditions and crossed the finishing line upstream of the Clifton Suspension Bridge in 34 minutes, 24 seconds.

His son Chris has held the course record for Junior 15 scullers since 2007.

"I've been competing on rivers for 35 years and this is the coldest race I've known " he said.

"At times there was no feeling in my fingers. All I could do was hang on and hope that the sculls and I wouldn't part company.”

The event is raced with the tide and is one of the longest and most scenic in the rowing calendar.