Ten colleges and universities from all corners of Ireland congregated at the National Rowing Centre in Cork to compete at this years Rowing University Championships. The weather held out on the Friday, allowing the athletes to race the 2km course, fighting for the chance of victory.
NUIG women's crews came out strong yet again, accumulating the most points in the female categories and collecting the Bank of Ireland Cup, for their success in the 8+ events. Their female crews placed in all categories entered, winning 53 of NUIG's 68 points, which saw them win the overall competition for the first time. They coolly collected all women's eights and fours titles, except in the Novice grade, in which they had no crews entered. NUIG ladies are a force to be reckoned with and it will be interesting to see how the Dublin based clubs fair against them.
Trinity were right up there, hoping to break through and power over the line ahead of NUIG in at least one event. They broke through the rest of the field, coming right behind NUIG in the Senior 8+, Intermediate 8+, Club 4+ events. Queens and UCD fought tooth and nail for second place in the Club 8+ event in the final 500m, with Queens making the move at the right time to edge ahead.
UCC were competitive in the Senior small boat racing, winning the single scull and pair events. The club had the top podium finishes in the Senior single, with Selma Bouanane (1st) and Lydia Heaphy (2nd). Heaphy also won the Intermediate single scull. Niamh Casey and Tara Hanlon put in strong performances in the Senior pair and coxless four, placing first and second respectively. Although UCC appear to have a small cohort, they're certainly a talented bunch.
UCD Novice 8+ are still looking strong, dominating the field and driving home to first place. They remain unbeaten and will undoubtedly be a difficult crew to topple from the podium this season. Queens had two eights in the Novice event, showing strength in numbers, finishing second and third behind UCD. They demonstrated their versatility and went on to win the Novice coxed quad. Always an interesting event to watch, with countless crabs and incidents while racing, we look forward to seeing the Novice 4x+ event over the coming months - it's anyone's game.
Full list of results
