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Displaying items by tag: Rower of the Month,

In the light of the absence of all the domestic events in the month and the severe curtailment of the Ireland trials, the judges have decided not to choose an Afloat Rower of the Month for February 2020.

 The pincer movement of very bad weather at home, which forced organisers to abandon heads of the river, and the encroaching threat of the Covid-19 virus has left rowing with very little competition.

 A limited trial for lightweights and for sweep women went ahead, but no official details were released.

Rower of the Month awards: The judging panel is made up of Liam Gorman, rowing correspondent of The Irish Times and David O'Brien, Editor of Afloat magazine. Monthly awards for achievements during the year will appear on afloat.ie. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2020 champions list grow.

Published in Rower of Month

#Rower of the Month: Sanita Puspure is the Afloat Rower of the Month for May. The Old Collegians sculler had struggled with injury early in the year, but come the Ireland trial at the National Rowing Centre, she was one of the top performers. She would carry that form into the first World Cup Regatta in Belgrade, where she took silver behind world champion Jeannine Gmelin of Switzerland and ahead of world bronze medallist Magdalena Lobnig of Austria and Britain’s Victoria Thornley, the silver  medallist at last year’s World Championships.

 May was also an excellent month for Irish juniors. Castleconnell were honoured as the best junior club at the Ghent International Regatta.  Enniskillen, Workmen’s, Bann and Fermoy also shone at the British National Schools Regatta on Dorney Lake. Fermoy’s Gill McGirr and Eliza O’Reilly won gold in the Championship Pair.

Rower of the Month awards: The judging panel is made up of Liam Gorman, rowing correspondent of The Irish Times and David O'Brien, Editor of Afloat magazine. Monthly awards for achievements during the year will appear on afloat.ie. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2018 champions list grow.

Published in Rower of Month

#ROWING: The Afloat Rowers of the Month for July are the Grainne Mhaol/NUIG crew which won the senior eights final at the Irish Championships. This was the third win of the last four years for a senior eight involving NUIG. The victory over Queen’s came by virtue of a stunning finish, a characteristic of NUIG crews in recent years. The achievement was all the more poignant as it was dedicated to long-time coach Tom Tuohy, who died last year after a short illness.

Rower of the Month awards: The judging panel is made up of Liam Gorman, rowing correspondent of The Irish Times and David O'Brien, Editor of Afloat magazine. Monthly awards for achievements during the year will appear on afloat.ie and the overall national award will be presented to the person or crew who, in the judges' opinion, achieved the most notable results in, or made the most significant contribution to rowing during 2012. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2012 champions list grow.

Published in Rowing

# ROWER OF THE MONTH: John Keohane is the Afloat Rower of the Month for June. The Corkman won Division One of the men’s single sculls at Cork Regatta, his second such win in the eFlow League series. He had also won at Skibbereen Regatta. Keohane competed in the Diamond Sculls at Henley, but he was beaten by Luke Moon in difficult conditions for the lighter Irishman.

Rower of the Month awards: The judging panel is made up of Liam Gorman, rowing correspondent of The Irish Times and David O'Brien, Editor of Afloat magazine. Monthly awards for achievements during the year will appear on afloat.ie and the overall national award will be presented to the person or crew who, in the judges' opinion, achieved the most notable results in, or made the most significant contribution to rowing during 2012. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2012 champions list grow.

Published in Rowing

# ROWING: Sanita Puspure is the Afloat Rower of the Month for May. The 30-year-old gave Ireland a place in the rowing programme at the Olympic Games in London with a characteristically gutsy performance which placed her fourth in the single scull at the Olympic Qualifier in Lucerne. This was the final Olympic place on offer, and she won a battle in the closing stages with Iva Obradovic of Serbia to clinch the spot. She is the deserving and popular winner of the Afloat Rower of the MonthRower of the Month awards:

The judging panel is made up of Liam Gorman, rowing correspondent of The Irish Times and David O'Brien, Editor of Afloat magazine. Monthly awards for achievements during the year will appear on afloat.ie and the overall national award will be presented to the person or crew who, in the judges' opinion, achieved the most notable results in, or made the most significant contribution to rowing during 2012. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2012 champions list grow.

Published in Rower of Month

ROWING: Michael Maher is the Afloat Rower of the Month for March. The Dubliner won the Open Lightweight category at the British Indoor Championships in Nottingham. In 2010 he was part of the Ireland lightweight quadruple scull which took silver at the World Under-23 Championships. Last year he and the lightweight quadruple finished fourth at the senior World Championships.

Rower of the Month awards: The judging panel is made up of Liam Gorman, rowing correspondent of The Irish Times, President of Rowing Ireland Anthony Dooley and David O'Brien, Editor of Afloat magazine.

Published in Rowing

National Watersports Campus, Dun Laoghaire

Dun Laoghaire Harbour Stakeholders combined forces in 2019 to promote a project to improve the Harbour’s infrastructure resulting in improved access, job creation and greater tourism potential. 

A grant application to government made by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council (DLRCoCo) assisted by stakeholders was successful with the announcement of a €400k feasibility study grant from the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF) in January 2020.

It meant plans for the €8m National Watersports Campus at Dun Laoghaire Harbour got the green light from Government and came a step closer to reality.

The project recognises deficits in the current set up in the harbour, proposing the construction of an all-tide publicly-accessible slipway (none currently in the Greater Dublin Area) as well as a marine services facility, providing a much-needed home for the supporting industry. 

The campus also seeks to provide a marketing framework to make boating more accessible to the general public.

The benefits of such an increase might be obvious for the Dun Laoghaire waterfront but there are other spin-offs for the harbour town in the creation of the sort of jobs that cannot be shipped abroad.

Centre for Community Watersports activity and public slipway

  • High-Performance coaching centre
  • Flexible Event Space for hosting national and international events
  • Multipurpose Building
  • Campus Marketing and Promotional Centre
  • Accommodation for Irish Sailing and Irish Underwater Council
  • Shared NGB Facility
  • Education Centre for schools, community groups and clubs
  • Proposed site – Carlisle Pier

Watersports Campus FAQs

Similar to the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown, the watersports campus will provide quality, public, recreational and high-performance facilities for the many watersports participants. The Campus will considerably enhance the services currently provided by more than 30 clubs and activity centres to over 50,000 annual users of the harbour.

The passing of control of the harbour to DLRCC, the public appetite for a community benefitting project and the capital funding for sports infrastructure in the Project 2040 National Plan have aligned to create an opportunity to deliver this proposal.

Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council (DLRCC) and the Irish Sailing Association (Irish Sailing) are the project leads, endorsed by the National Governing Bodies of other Irish watersports and clubs and activity providers.

The National Sports Policy, published in 2018, established the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF) to provide Exchequer support for sports facility projects. In some cases, these may be projects where the primary objective will be to increase active participation in sport. In other cases, these may be venues where the focus is more related to high-performance sport.

Government has allocated at least €100m over the term to 2027 to successful applicant projects.

The Watersports Campus was one of seven successful applicants for Stream 1 funding allowing planning to commence on the project design and feasibility. €442,000 has been granted in this phase.

NThe project will provide for a municipally-owned public access facility to include a small craft slipway that is accessible at all stages of the tide (currently none in public ownership in the greater Dublin area), storage and lock-up resources, watersports event management space, a high-performance centre and NGB accommodation.

The project aims to enhance the profile of Dun Laoghaire as a major international venue for maritime events, shows and conferences. Establish Dun Laoghaire as the 'go-to place' for anything marine – generating revenues Create employment in the county - attract businesses, visitors and events. Grow the market for watersports Promote the services of activity providers to the public. Complement the plan to develop Dun Laoghaire as a 'destination.'

As of January 1 2021, The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport has approved the applicant project and DLRCC are expected to appoint a team to further advance the project.

©Afloat 2020