A busy week in Irish rowing with crews competing at Cork Regatta, some of whom were hoping for international selection, as well as crews in the UK at Women's Henley Regatta and Reading Regatta.
A hot weekend at the National Rowing Centre for Cork Regatta, making for great viewing but also tiring conditions for the athletes.
Ireland's international stars were competing, showcasing their talent and inspiring young athletes at the regatta. The regatta would also affirm the selections for the upcoming international competitions including Coupe de la Jeunesse and Home Internationals, which will take place at the National Rowing Centre, Cork in July.
The regatta is run in the format of Division 1 (J18A, Club 1, Intermediate and Senior) and Division 2 (J16, J18B, Novice, Club 2). Crews are competing against others in their category e.g. Queen's Novices vs. Skibbereen Novices, but will race others in their division in heats and finals e.g. Queen's Novices vs. Commercial J16. The system gives crews the opportunity to race crews in other categories, driving everyone to be faster, which is highlighted in the results of the Division 1 Single, as well as ensuring categories that may have one or two entries have others to compete against.
Those hoping to make international selection were competing in single sculls and pairs to demonstrate their ability. In the Division 1 Single Sculls, Irish international, Denise Walsh sailed to first position in a time of 8.06.08 winning the Lightweight category, followed by Lisa Dilleen of Cork BC who won the Senior event in 8.13.47. Selma Bouanane of Fermoy came in third, competing as an intermediate and thus taking the medal for the category - she also had success in the Senior event at the University Championships in April. Laura Brown of New Ross was the only J18 to make it to Final A, automatically winning her category, finishing in 6th place in Final A in a time of 8.44.11. Joan Poh of Neptune qualified for Final B and won the Club 1 category in a time of 8.30.83.
The Division 1 2- Final A saw Senior, Club 1 and J18A athletes compete, with Shandon, the fastest Intermediate crew, competing in Final C. Skibbereen (Niamh Casey, Aine McCarthy) won the Senior event (7.49.73), with a Neptune/Bann composite and Trinity fighting it out for second and third position. The composite crew (Claire Feerick, Katie Shirlow) overcame their competition by 1 second in a time of 7.54.73. Colaiste Iognaid (J18A) and Shandon (Club 1) were having their own battle, with the Junior crew of Caoileann Nic Dhonncha and Elise Carney finishing in 8.07.85 and Shandon's Club 1 (Julie Harrington, Aoife Brooks) in 8.08.77. A great demonstration of talent across all categories and several of these athletes went on to be selected to represent Ireland in upcoming competitions (listed below).
The Division 1 and Division 2 Eights made for interesting races, with several crews competing in both grades. Some strong entries across the board with J16, Novice and Club 2 boats competing in Division 2 8+. Shannon appeared to have some steering issues in Heat 3, crashing in to Cork B, calling for a restart of the race and then again had some difficulties. There was no stopping Cork A and Neptune the second time round, who went off hard and pulled away. Cork A were a tough crew, made up of athletes with a variety of experience, who went in to Final A with the fastest time of 6.57.99. Cork A and Trinity A (DULBC) battled in Final A for the medal, with Trinity just edging over the line less than half a second ahead. The Commercial J16s were the only non Club 2 boat in Final A, winning their event and showing their promise, undoubtedly going to rattle the older crews as they mature. The Queens Novices won their category and gained more experience in the Club 1 event the next day.
One of the most outstanding performances was from the J18 Enniskillen crew who dominated their heat and were the fastest seeded going in to the Division 1 Final A and came second to Cork Intermediates in the final. They gave a great challenge to competitors in their category and crews from Club 1 to Senior would have been pleased they didn't have to directly compete with them for a medal. Trinity and Neptune fought tooth and nail in the Club 1 heat, leaving the Queens crews behind (who had several novices). Waiting for official results, unsure of who was first of the line, it was Neptune by a second. As the only two Club 1 crews in the Final A, they had to duel again in the final for the category medal. Neptune were half a length up at the 1k mark but Trinity pushed through in the last 500m to secure first place. In the same final, Cork, Shandon and Commercial were competing for the Intermediate title, with Cork moving away from the rest of their competition and finishing the 2km course in 7.07.64 minutes, beating Enniskillen (J18) by 4 seconds, Shandon by 6 seconds and Commercial by 10 seconds.
The Division 1 coxless four was tight to the finish line with Commercial holding on to the lead and beating Skibbereen by 2 seconds and Trinity by 4 seconds. The Cork J18A boat beat Colaiste Iognaid 0.26 of a second to win their category.
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In the Division 1 4+ Final A, Trinity Intermediates overcame the Skibbereen and Shandon Intermediate crews, while also beating the Commercial Seniors for good measure. University of Limerick proved strong in the Division 2 4+ beating the nearest competitors by 9 seconds. St. Michael's were the only J16 crew to make it to Final A taking the medal for their grade and putting it up to their older competitors, the Colaiste Iognaid J18B crew, who also won their respective grade.
Cork Regatta was the final competition in the 2018 Grand League - the results are in! Congratulations to Commercial Rowing Club who retained first position and managed to secure the Overall Grand League prize with a final 1577 points and won a €500 voucher for Filippi Ireland. Trinity College (DULBC) put in a stellar effort at Cork Regatta and attained 398 points in Division 1, 98 points ahead of the next highest result. This strong performance was enough to attain the overall prize for Division 1, as they got no points from Dublin Metropolitan Regatta as the annual Queen’s University vs. Trinity College Boat Race took place the same day. Neptune's Dublin Met result of 304 points and Cork Regatta result of 133 points combined to put the club well ahead in Division 2 with 437 points, more than 100 points ahead of Fermoy who placed second in the division. Trinity and Neptune will also receive Filippi Ireland vouchers for winning their division valued at €300 each.
Full Results on Rowing Ireland
While Cork Regatta was ongoing, Ireland's rowing talent was also being demonstrated overseas at Women's Henley Regatta. Commercial's Ruth Morris and Hazel O'Neill had a brilliant competition in the Lightweight 2-, beating Durham University in the semi-final and going on to later win the final, beating last years winners, Thames Rowing Club by 1 length. Final Race starts 8.45 mins in:
The first of the Irish in action was Cork Boat Club's Clodagh Deasy and Julia Rigothi in the Championship 2x event, who were beaten by Leander. Race starts 2 minutes in:
UCD were in action against a composite of Bath & Bristol Universities, beaten by 2.5 lengths. Race starts 9 mins in:
Queen's later competed in the Academic Aspirational 4-, which was a disappointing race for the crew who crashed and broke some of their equipment. A difficult feat for less experienced rowers to take on steering the course. Race starts 10.35 mins in:
We would also like to congratulate Mary Moloney on her appointment of Development and Women in Sport Manager for the Get Going, Get Rowing Programme.
International Selections:
World Cup III: 13 - 15 July in Lucerne, Switzerland
- W1x: Sanita Puspure (Old Collegians BC)
- W2x: Monika Dukarska (Killorglin RC), Aileen Crowley (Old Collegians BC)
- W2- or W4- will be selected in coming days
Home Internationals: 21st July in Cork, Ireland
- Senior Women Sculling
- Selma Bouanane (Fermoy RC), Georgia O'Brien (UL RC), Sarah Crummey (Belfast BC)
- Lightweight: Orla Hayes (Skibbereen RC), Sheila Clavin (St. Michaels RC), Vikki Wallace (QUBBC)
- Senior Women Sweep
- Niamh Casey, Aine McCarthy (Skibbereen RC)
- Claire Feerick (Neptune RC), Katie Shirlow (Bann RC)
- Caoimhe Dempsey, Dineka Maguire (DULBC)
- Rachel Ryan, Ruth Gilligan (Commercial RC)
- Sarah Kelly, Aoife Corcoran (DULBC)
- Cox: Aoife Reid (Commercial RC)
- Additional Women's Lightweight 2- to be confirmed
- Junior Women Sculling
- Marie Kidney (Lee), Niamh Kiely (Castleconnell), Ciara O'Brien (Castleconnell), Shona Tierney (New Ross), Aoife Lynch (Lee), Katie Dolan (Commercial), Sadhbh Scully (Carlow)
- Junior Women Sweep
- Aoife Brooks (Shandon), Chris Kirwan (St. Michaels), Rhianon O'Donoghue (Killorglin), Anna Tyther (Killorglin), Zoe McCutcheon (Enniskillen), Caitlyn Fee (Enniskillen), Aoife Cummins (Lee), Jennifer Crowley (Lee), Norma Silke (Castleconnell), Saoirse Byrnes (Castleconnell), Cox: Sarah Dolan (Enniskillen)
U23 World Championships: 25 - 29 July in Poznan, Poland
- BW2x: Lydia Heaphy (Skibbereen), Margaret Cremen (Lee)
- BW2-: Emily Hegarty (UCC), Tara Hanlon (Cork)
Coupe de la Jeunesse: 27 - 29 July in Cork, Ireland
- Junior Women Sculling
- Aoibhinn Keating (Skibbereen), Ruth Carson (Bann), Annie O'Donoghue (Workmens), Molly Curry (Coleraine), Eimear Crowley (Kenmare), Laura Brown (New Ross), Lauren O'Brien (Castleconnell)
- Junior Women Sweep
- JW8+: Caoileann Nic Dhonncha (Colaiste Iognaid), Elise Carney (Colaiste Iognaid), Ellen Murphy (St. Michaels), Julie Harrington (Shandon), Jane Duggan (Cork), Claragh O'Sullivan (Cork), Rhianon O'Donoghue (Killorglin), Anna Tyther (Killorglin), Cox: Vicky Hanlon (Cork)
- JW4-: Julie Harrington (Shandon), Ellen Murphy (St. Michaels), Jane Duggan (Cork), Claragh O'Sullivan (Cork)
- JW2-: Caoileann Nic Dhonncha (Colaiste Iognaid), Elise Carney (Colaiste Iognaid)
Junior World Championships: 9 - 12 August in Racice, Czech Republic
- JW2x: Ciara Moynihan, Ciara Browne (Workmens)
- JW2-: Gill McGirr, Ellie O'Reilly (Fermoy)
