JO FITZSIMONS marked her return to competitive rowing with selection for Great Britain after a strong performance at Nottingham trials. The assessments took place in difficult windy conditions and Fitzsimons was one of four female St Neots Rowing Club mem

JO FITZSIMONS marked her return to competitive rowing with selection for Great Britain after a strong performance at Nottingham trials.

The assessments took place in difficult windy conditions and Fitzsimons was one of four female St Neots Rowing Club members in action.

Fitzsimons, 17, was returning from a back injury and proved herself to be the top strokesider in the country, picking up where she left off.

On Sunday she blew away the challenge of Moseley rower Imelda Gare, by more than six seconds and disposed of Olivia Carnegie-Brown from Reading by a similar margin.

The day before, accompanied by Bream, Fitzsimons rowed brilliantly to snatch second place over the 1900-metre course, just two seconds behind the combined Henley/Moseley crew.

Having been in the GB team for sculling last year, Bream has moved to rowing in 2008. On Sunday she won her first seat race by more than eight seconds, finally finishing a very good fourth.

For the younger Saints pair of Polly Hetherington and Bethany Astell it was their first taste of the assessment process. Unfazed, they attacked from their start position of seventh and were rewarded with an excellent fourth place overall, just nine seconds behind their older clubmates.

Hetherington and Astell also produced excellent performances on Sunday, winning five races between them to further establish the credentials of the St Neots Club.

Following the trials, Fitzsimons will represent GB at the Munich Junior International Regatta in May.

St Neots coach Martyn Rooney said: "It was an exceptional performance to get four girls to qualify for the GB Spring Assessment. I had expected Jo and Natalie to do well and was particularly pleased with Jo, who is regaining her confidence after the injury, to finish top again.

"However what I didn't expect was the extraordinary results from Polly and Beth. If they can continue their improvement they could be pushing for selection for the Coupe de la Jeunesse later this year.