Henley Masters Regatta, held on the same course as Henley Royal Regatta (although half the length) and coinciding with Henley Festival, has always been a very special event for senior rowers. This year, Ross Rowing Club sent three coxed fours, two men's and one women's, to compete for the coveted Henley Medal.

On Friday, the Men's Masters D coxed four of Jeremy Picton-Turbervill, Graham Watling, Paul Brodholt and Dave Sykes, coxed by Lucy Jones, won their heat against a crew from Richmond Virginia, USA and went on to win their semi-final against Nottingham, both by several lengths.

In the final on Saturday, they were drawn against an experienced crew from Upper Thames and previous meetings suggested this was to be a close race. In the event, the Ross crew maintained a small lead right until within a few metres of the finishing line, where a final push from Upper Thames denied the crew the medal by just one foot.

Also on Saturday, the Men's Masters coxed four of Paul Carpenter, Steven Randell, Philip Davies and Antony Dixon-Gough, coxed by Morgan Baynham-Williams, won their semi-final against Lincoln College convincingly, but were beaten in the final by a strong crew from Vesta Boat Club.

Earlier that day the Women's Masters C coxed four of Nicky Wild, Annie Williams, Dawn Evans and Rowena Pollock, coxed by Karen Blackwood, failed to get to their final, being beaten by Hereford who went on to win the medal.

At the Llandaff Regatta, the seniors had four crews competing on the long course on Saturday and five crews in the sprint on Sunday. A fast running river made conditions tricky for Saturday's events causing a crew from Bradford on Avon to lose their boat over the weir. The boat was destroyed but thankfully there were no injuries.

The men's IM3 coxed four of Andrew Leeman, Tim Crossman, Richard Jennison and Mike Phillips, coxed by Skye Jenkins, lost to a younger crew from Llandaff in the morning. In the afternoon, racing in the Masters C event, they beat a crew from Bristol City by 2 lengths but were mysteriously disqualified for an infringement at the start.

Meanwhile the Mixed Masters D double scull of Mike Jones and Sheron Dean-Lucas were beaten by the home team. Mike Jones also rowed a single scull in the Masters E event and won his heat against Llandaff but lost to Worcester in the final having to give away 6 seconds on handicap.

The only success of the day went to Geraldine Calcraft who had a fine win in the Women's IM3 single scull event, beating Cardiff in a tough semi-final and going on to win her final easily.

On Sunday, the Men's Masters Novice coxed four of Tony Allen, Tim Ball, Robin Billingham and Jack Westley, coxed by Jess Jordan, had a busy morning. Their race against Upton on Severn was declared a dead heat and so they had to immediately turn around and race again. Sadly a second race was too much for the tired crew and they lost by just a third of a length.

The Masters F coxed four of Philip Palmer, Jonathan Preece, Robin Billingham and Clive Snell, coxed by Anna Barker, lost by half a length to Monmouth and the two Women's coxed fours, (Masters C of Sharon Finch, Alison Griffin, Anne Morris and Sheron Dean-Lucas, coxed by Kerry Meek and IM3 of Sarah Sykes, Leigh Richmond, Alison Barker and Jess Jordan, coxed by Sheron Dean-Lucas), were also unsuccessful.

Eighteen juniors from Ross Rowing Club were also competing across the border in Wales on the River Taff at Llandaff Regatta. In the morning session, Elliott Ball and Dale Kernot lost the opening heat of their J14 double scull event against good opposition. Next up were Caitlin Scott and Charlotte Leach in the girl's J16 double sculls. The girls won their first heat but then had to retire due to illness (Scott).

In the WJ13 single sculls, Skye Jenkins came through two rounds before winning her final in convincing style. Hazel Thomas and Charlotte Westley had a good win in their first heat but came up against strong opposition in the next round and despite sculling very well were narrowly beaten. In the final event of the morning for Ross juniors, Nick Burden was much too good for his opponent in the straight final of the J13 single scull event and registered a comfortable win.

First up in the afternoon session were Ali Banks-Martin and Emily Leach in the WJ13 double. They won their first race and had a busy afternoon, successfully negotiating two more rounds before winning the final in magnificent style. Rosie Brandram-Jones (WJ16 single) and George Probert (J14 single) both lost heats to strong opposition but competed well to the end. Scarlett Brodholt rowed beautifully to win her heat and then the final of the WJ12 single sculls.

In the WJ12 coxed quad event, Naomi Banks-Martin, Fran Watling, Jess Saxon-Macrostie, Izzy Newey and cox Skye Jenkins, all wearing big smiles, won a straight final with a lovely display of sculling for such a young crew. And finally, Charlie Gowling, competing in his first regatta, and crew mate Nick Burden, won the J13 double event in a straight final.

Mark Scott, Junior Captain said, 'This was another really successful outing for the Ross juniors. It was a delight to see such high quality sculling from all of our competitors, as well as all the smiling faces.'

Over 1300 children participated in this year's Herefordshire Youth Games which was hosted by Herefordshire Council at the Hereford Leisure Centre this month. Heralded as another success, a variety of sports were on offer including athletics, boccia, cricket and orienteering.

The day started off with a special cheer leading performance by the Whitecross Cheerleaders. This was followed by a mass aerobic warm up with guest appearances from Paralympic athlete, James Bevis and European Gold Medallist, Sarah Waldron. The children loved meeting the local stars; having their photographs taken, and collecting signed autographs. Children also joined in a nation-wide attempt to break a world record for the greatest number of people taking part in a simultaneous dance. Figures will be released at the end of July, but it is believed they may have danced their way to a new British Record.

Although organized by Herefordshire Council, the event was made successful thanks to around 100 volunteers, including sixth form leaders, university students, individuals from local sports clubs, schools as well as volunteers from the council and Amey.

Amy Jenkins, sport development officer said, 'It was great to see so many children having fun, trying new sports and getting competitive. The event couldn't have worked without the great support from local volunteers; their help is invaluable. This is the ninth time we have held the event, and each year its popularity grows and new sports are introduced.'

The day's results were:

The John Kyrle High School held its 32nd Annual Sports Day during Thursday, 30th June and Friday, 1st of July. In a year when many long running school records were broken, there were some fantastic performances and all events were well supported by an appreciative crowd of students and parents.

The inter tutor group prizes were won by the following: Year 7 - 7O, Year 8 - 8H, Year 9 - 9J, Year 10 - 10Y.
The Victrix ludorum went to the following: Year 7 - Issie Newey / Emily Tyler, Year 8 - Hannah Ralphs, Year 9 - Rosie Cox, Year 10 - Beth Gibson / Ali Hartland. The Victor ludorum went to the following: Year 7 - Jay Richmond, Year 8 - Luke Clarke / Andrew Evans, Year 9 - Alex Iles, Year 10 - Max Parker.

Well done to you all.