#Rowing: Damian Browne set a remarkable time of 1:16.2 for 500 metres at the Provinces Indoor Rowing championships at the University of Limerick on Saturday. The big Galway man, who will row the Atlantic starting in December, finished second in the men’s open category. Colin Burke of Auriel Kensington won this with 1.4 seconds to spare over Browne.  

Provinces Indoor Rowing Championships, Limerick,Saturday 

Men, Open: 1 Colin Burke (Auriel-Kensington, London) 6:12.9, 2 Damian Browne 6:14.3, 3 Ciaran Brady (Offaly) 6:25.7. 500m: Browne 1:16.2 

Junior 18 2000: Mark Ryder (Col Iognaid) 6:29.8.Jun 18 500: James McCarthy (CIT) 1:22.3

M J16 2000: Darragh Gallivan (CRCC) 6:52.8. Men, 30-39: John Whooley (Skib) 6:23.2.

M 40-49: Fintan Gilsenan (Castletownbere RC) 6:26.8.

Women, Open: B Larsen (Garda) 7:06.0. Jun 18 : Caoileann Nic Dhonncha (Col Iognaid) 7:34.1 Jun 16: Roisin O’Connor (Castleconnell BC) 7:34.7.  

W 40-49: Fiona McKeown (Castleconnell BC) 7:23.0

Pararowing

MLTA: Kevin Wall (Clonmel) 6:51.9.

WLTA: Sarah McLoughlin (Univ of Limerick) 8:07.

#Rowing: Paul O’Donovan set a new personal best – by just .1 of a second - and was the top lightweight at the Irish Indoor Rowing Championships today. The outstanding peformance of the day at the University of Limerick belonged, however, to heavyweight oarsman Sam McKeown. The Queen’s University oarsman was by far the fastest on the day, with a time of five minutes 55 seconds. This was the second occasion on which he had broken six minutes (he had covered the 2,000 metres in 5:59 in November) and he looked in control at the finish, shouting “Go Queen’s!”

 Sanita Puspure was the fastest woman, clocking six minutes 40 seconds  with a steady peformance. Her nearest rival was Monika Dukarska – 6:52.6 was a personal best for the Killorglin woman.

 Ross Corrigan from Enniksillen Royal College (formerly Portora) was the fastest junior man – of 125 – and Hannah Scott of Bann took the honours amongst junior women.

 In the under-23 men’s competition, another win for Daire Lynch confirmed his strong transition from junior ranks; UCD man Shane O’Connell, whose star has also been on the rise, won the under-23 lightweight grade in a good battle with Jake McCarthy and Fintan McCarthy.

 Emily Hegarty of Skibbereen was the top woman at under-23 level. Her nearest rival was Eimear Lambe, who pipped her elder sister, Claire, by half a second. The Ireland Olympian who is now at Cambridge University competed as a heavyweight as she prepares for the Boat Race. 

 Competitors had to leave the venue late in the programme after a fire alarm. They were able to return to finish events.

Irish Indoor Rowing Championships, University of Limerick, Saturday (Selected Results):

Men – Open: 1 S McKeown 5 min 55.0 sec, 2 E O’Connor 6:02.7, 3 T Oliver 6:03.9. Lightweight Open: 1 P O’Donovan 6:07.4, 2 G O’Donovan 6:14.2, 3 M O’Donovan 6:19.0, 4 S O’Driscoll 6:21.1. Under-23: D Lynch 6:10.0. Lightweight Under-23: S O’Connell 6:21.3. Junior 18: R Corrigan 6:21.3. Jun 16: M Gallagher 6:38.6.

Women – Open: 1 S Puspure 6:40.0, 2 M Dukarska 6:52.6, 3 B Larsen 7:02.5, 4 C Lambe 7:11.4. Lwt: D Walsh 7:13.1. Under-23: E Hegarty 6:57.5; Lwt U-23: E McGiff 7:38.6. Jun 18: H Scott 7:05.7. Jun 16: Z McCutcheon 7:18.2.

#Rowing: The entry for the Irish Indoor Rowing Championships has both quantity and quality, with Irish rowers who are set to compete at the Olympic Games in the mix. Gary O’Donovan will compete in lightweight class and Paul O’Donovan in the under-23 lightweight class.

Claire Lambe, who partnered Sinéad Jennings in the Ireland lightweight women’s double crew which qualified the boat for Rio, is also entered. Jennings may do a Wattbike test.

Among the heavyweight men, Philip Doyle, Sam McKeown and Dave Neale will be among those competing to set the top mark, while Sanita Puspure, an Olympian in 2012, should be the fastest woman.

The Championships have a record entry and will be held in Limerick on January 23^rd.

#Indoor Rowing: Claire Lambe excelled among a group of lightweight rowers who set personal best times in ergometer (rowing machine) tests at the National Rowing Centre in Cork. Gary O’Donovan, Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll all set new best times. Paul O’Donovan did his test in Dublin and also broke new ground. Heavyweight rower Aifric Keogh matched her best time of six minutes 55.5 seconds.

High Performance Ergometer Testing, National Rowing Centre, Cork

Men

Lightweight: 1 G O’Donovan 6:13.7, 2 M O’Donovan 6:16.8, 3 S O’Driscoll 6:18.5.

Women

Open: A Keogh 6:55.5, L Kennedy 6:56.7.

Lightweight: C Lambe 7:05.6, S Dolan 7:15.3.

Irish Provinces Indoor Rowing Championships, University of Limerick (Selected Results; 2000 metres unless stated)

Men

Open – 1 R O’Hagan 6:09.4, 2 F Crowley 6:24.9, 3 A Prendergast 6:25.5. 30-39: G Conway 6:19.7. Open 500: R O’Hagan 1:19.6.

Under-23: A Kinneen 6:20.2. Junior 18: R Byrne 6:16.9, 500: E Walls-Tuite 1:22.3.

Jun 16: J Keating 6:33.8, 500: J McCarthy 1:29.8.

Jun 15 (1,000): R MacCurtain 3:23.6.

Freshers (1,000); G Barlow 3:05.2.

40-49: N Carey 6:24.3, 500: Carey 1:23.9. 50-59: O Short 6:46.9, 500: Short 1:29.4. 60-69: P Victory 6:57.6, 500 (60+): P Victory 1:32.6.

Lightweight – Open: D O’Connor 6:33.5, 500: L Keane 1:28.9.

Lightweight Under-23: L Keane 6:25.0, 500: Keane 1:28.9. Lightweight 40-49: J Doyle 6:29.1.  

Women

Open – 1 M Dukarska 7:02.7, 2 A O’Sullivan 7:19.0, 3 M Piggott 7:34.7. 500: M Dukarska 1:33.6.

Under-23: S Bounane 7:18.7. Junior 18: M Cremin 7:23.3.

500: M Cremin 1:38.8.

 Jun 16: A O’Farrell 7:32.7, 500: L Turner 1:44.1.

Jun 15: (1,000): A Doyle 3:50.6, 500: J Crowley 1:41.1

Freshers (1,000): B Chase 3:43.2.

30-39: S Kennelly 7:24.9. 40-49: P O’Brien 7:51.8, 500: R Ware 1:43.3. 50-59: M Lawlor 8:11.2, 500: Lawlor 1:55.9.

Lightweight – Open: S McCrohan 7:14.7, 500: K Wilkie 1:44.4.

Lightweight Under-23: E McGiff 7:49.2. 

Lightweight 30-39:  C Conway 7:48.3.

LTA – S McLoughlin 3:51.1, 500: McLoughlin 1:51.0.

Ulster Indoor Rowing Championships, Queen’s University, Saturday (Selected Results, 2,000 metres unless stated). Includes BUCS: British University Championships.

Men

Open: S McKeown 6:04.7, 2 M Christie 6:25.9. BUCS Open: 1 T Oliver 6:10.6, 2 P Doyle 6:26.9, 3 R Urquart 6:34.7. BUCS Lightweight: C Beck 6:31.2.

Under-23 Lightweight: A Laivinas 6:50.3.

Under-18: D Mitchell 6:26.0. Under-16: A Christie 6:39.3. Under-15: A Graham (1,000m) 3:32.7.

BUCS Beginners (1,000): J Lobinger 3:11.4. 

Women

Open: R Maguire 7:15.4. BUCS Open: Maguire 7:15.4. BUCS Open Lightweight: R Brown 7:46.7.

Under-23: K Shirlow 7:28.3.

Under-18: F Chestnutt 7:31.0.

Under-16: L McIntyre 7:46.2. Under-15 (1,000m): A Hall 3:54.6. 30+ (1,000m): L Kerr 3:20.9.

BUCS Beginners (1,000m): A Druijff 3:45.8. 

#Rowing: The School Indoor Rowing Blitz in Trinity College drew hundreds of competitors. Borris Vocational School from Carlow won the Girls under-15 section ahead of Gaelcholáiste Ceatharlach, and Limerick school Laurel Hill won the girls under-14 category. The top under-14 boys’ team were CBC from Monkstown.  

For Full Results, See Attachment Below

School Indoor Rowing Blitz, Trinity College (Selected Results)

Boys

Under 14: 1 CBC Monkstown 7 min. 0.7 secs,  2 Presentation, Cork - Panthers 7:24:9. Under 13: 1 CBC Monsktown 7:51:0, 2 St Joseph’s, Galway One 7:53.9, 3 St Joseph’s, Galway Three 8:13.7.

Girls

Under 15; 1 Borris Vocational School – Barrow Barrowers 7:45.4, 2 Gaelcholáiste, Ceatharlach 7:53.1, 3 Cois Life, Lucan 8:32.7.

Under 14: 1 Laurel Hill, Limerick 7:43:3, 2 Coláiste Iognáid 7:44:5, 3  Borris Vocational School  - Barrow Blitzers 7:44:8. Under-13: 1 Laurel Hill, Limerick 7:48:0. 2 Col Iognaid 8:20:2, 3 Gael Scoil, Carlow 8:20:5

#ROWING: Kenny McDonald, who is the world champion indoor rower in the 40 to 49 lightweight category, today set a new Irish record in this class. The Shannon Rowing Club man clocked six minutes 20.7 seconds in a special test at St Michael’s Rowing Club in Limerick. This knocked exactly a second off Philip Healy’s old mark. Jonathan Doyle, also competing today, set a time of 6:24.0. The world record, which belongs to Denmark’s Eskild Ebbesen, is 6:18.8.

#ROWING: Kenny McDonald, the world champion indoor rower in the 40 to 49 lightweight class, will launch a bid on Sunday to break the Irish and world records in this class. McDonald, of Shannon Rowing Club, and Dubliner Jonathan Doyle, the man he replaced as champion earlier this year, will take each other on at St Michael’s Rowing Club in Limerick at 1 p.m. The Irish record  is 6:21.7, held by Philip Healy, and the world record time is 6:16.8. It was set in January at the European Championships in Copenhagen by five-time Olympic medallist Eskild Ebbesen.

McDonald, who is a garda and an instructor in the Garda College in Templemore, set a time of six minutes 24.5 seconds when he won his title in Boston in February, but felt he could have gone faster. “The race went well, it was nice to win it, (but) I was going out at the back of my mind to break the world record. It went well for 1200 metres but the wheels started to come off at that stage. The last 800 metres I lost the focus. I definitely had a faster time in me.”

#ROWING: Kenny McDonald of Shannon Rowing Club won the 40 to 49 lightweight class at the World Indoor Rowing Championships in Boston yesterday. McDonald headed up an Ireland one-two: Jonathan Doyle, the defending champion, was second. Greg Ruckman of the United States, a world champion in the 30-39 class just two years ago, was third.

McDonald is a former Ireland international rower, while Doyle was a runner who took up indoor rowing after being hit by injury.

CRASH B World Indoor Rowing Championships, Boston, United States (Selected Result)

Men, Lightweight Senior Master Men (40-49):
1 K McDonald (Shannon RC) 6:24.5, 2 J Doyle (Paddy Power IRC) 6:26.7, 3 G Ruckman (Colorado Rowing) 6:32.0.

#INDOORROWING: Irish indoor rower Jonathan Doyle took a silver medal in a remarkable race at the European Indoor Championships in Copenhagen.

Five-time Olympic medallist Eskild Ebbesen of Denmark was cheered home to a gold medal in the 40-49 lightweight grade in a world record time of 6 minutes 16.8 seconds. The Dane crept inside the old world record of 6:17.1 with a stunning final quarter of one minute 31.1 seconds. Doyle settled for silver in 6:30.3, with Briton Alastair Peake third in 6:33.4.

Doyle held the world and British titles in his class, but said it was a privelege to be involved in this race.

The men’s open lightweight class was won in 5:56.7 by Henrik Stephansen of Denmark.

European Rowing Championships, Copenhagen (Selected Result):

Men, Lightweight – 40 to 49: 1 Danske Studenters Roklub One (E Ebbesen) 6:16.8, 2 Paddy Power IRC One (J Doyle) 6:30.3, 3 Bideford AAC One (A Peake) 6:33.4.

#BelfastIndoorRowing: Erin Barry, a junior 16 athlete, set an excellent time of seven minutes 2.1 seconds for the 2,000 metres at the Belfast Indoor Rowing Event today. Barry, from the Bann club in Coleraine, was over 30 seconds faster than her nearest rival. One of the top performers from the Irish Indoor Championships last week, Sam McKeown from Portadown, was entered but did not take part. The event served as part of the Ireland trialling system and a round of the British University indoor series.