#Rowing: The Victor Ludorum Trophy for best school was won by St Joseph’s of Galway at the Irish Schools’ Championships at O’Brien’s Bridge in Clare today. Daire Lynch of Clonmel CBS was the best single sculler. Methodist College, Belfast, won the women’s under-23 eight.

#Rowing: Ireland had its second heat win at the World Cup Regatta in Varese, as the lightweight double of Paul O’Donovan and Gary O’Donovan gave an excellent display. They took over the lead in the second half of the race and beat Britain into second place, with both crews qualifying for semi-finals.  

 Sinéad Jennings and Claire Lambe finished third in their heat, missing direct qualifcation for the semi-finals by just one spot. The Ireland lightweight double were very close to leaders Switzerland down the course, but in the drive for the line Canada took the second qualification place, with Ireland .55 of a second behind.    

World Cup Regatta, Varese (Selected Results, Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat Three (First Two to A/B Semi-Final; rest to Repechages): 1 Ireland (P O’Donovan, G O’Donovan) 6:27.07, 2 Britain 6:33.38; 3 Netherlands Two 6:48.24.  

Women

Pair – Heat One (First Two to A/B Semi-Final; rest to Repechages): 1 Germany 7:23.08, 2 Russia One 7:24.46; 5 Ireland (L Kennedy, B O’Brien) 7:46.38.

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat Two (First Two to A/B Semi-Final; rest to Repechages): 1 Switzerland 7:03.98, 2 Canada 7:04.45; 3 Ireland (C Lambe, S Jennings) 7:05.0.

Single Sculls – Heat One (Winner to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechages): 1 Ireland (S Puspure) 7:34.32; 2 Czech Republic (M Knapkova) 7:36.13.  

#Rowing: Trinity had a good run in the early set of finals at Neptune Regatta in Islandbridge today. Their senior coxed four – with a strong set of rowers in Patrick Moreau, Mark Kelly, Liam Hawkes and David Butler, beat UCD, and Michael Corcoran won the senior single sculls. Monika Dukarska of Killorglin took on and beat Breanna Larsen in a semi-final and Jacqueline Ryan in the final of the women’s single.

Neptune Regatta, Islandbridge Saturday (Selected Results)

Men

Eight – Club One: Commercial B bt St Michael’s 2l, 3:44. Novice: Trinity bt UCD, disq. Junior 18: Neptune bt Commercial 1¾ l, 3:40.

Four – Senior: Trinity bt UCD 1¼ l, 3:50. Intermediate, coxed: Trinity bt Commercial 2l, 4:23. Masters, coxed: Carlow, Athlone, Northridge bt Neptune 3l.

Sculling, Quadruple – Jun 16, coxed: Commercial bt Castleconnell, disq

Double – Jun 16: Killorglin bt Graiguenamanagh easily, 4:25. Jun 15: Three Castles bt Blackrock easily, 4:34.

Single – Senior: Trinity (M Corcoran) bt Neptune (K Coughlan), 2l 4:23. Club Two: Trinity (S Addison) bt Clonmel (J McKenna) 3l, 4:40. Jun 18: Graiguenamanagh (A Lennon) bt Commercial (N Beggan) 1½ l.

Women

Eight – Club One: Commercial bt Trinity 1l, 4:20. Novice: UCD bt Trinity B 4l, 4:22. Jun 16: Portora bt Carlow easily, 4:28.

Sculling, Quadruple – Jun 18: Commercial bt Belfast RC easily, 4:50. Jun 15, coxed: St Michael’s A bt Offaly 6l, 4:56.

Single – Senior: Killorglin (M Dukarska) bt Garda (J Ryan) easily, 4:42. Club Two: Garda (Ryan) bt Garda (Moore) easily, 5:14.

Jun 16: Belfast RC (A Hall) bt Castleconnell (L Mulligan) easily, 5:22.

#Rowing: The Neptune Regatta on Saturday at Islandbridge has revised its draw, moving a number of crews around on the schedule. The overall shape of the regatta, which runs from 8.30am until just after 6pm, remains in place. There are men’s senior eight semi-finals scheduled for 4.24 and 4.27, with the final set for 5.42.

 The changes are highlighted in yellow in the attached draw.

#Rowing: Carlow’s junior 18 quadruple were the fastest crew at the Offaly Head of the River in Tullamore on Saturday. The winning crew had over 40 seconds to spare over their nearest rivals, winning in a time of 10 minutes 44.25 seconds.  

 

No	Grade	Boat type	Club	Name	Time (s)	M	S
1	MJ18	4X-	Carlow		644.25	10	44.25
7	MJ16	4X+	Commercial		685.87	11	25.87
4	MCL1	2X	Carlow		687.01	11	27.01
19	MJ16	4X+	Commercial		688.38	11	28.38
12	MCL1	1X	Carlow	KeatingL	710.66	11	50.66
20	MJ16	4X+	New Ross		717.88	11	57.88
29	WCL1	2X	Carlow		718.48	11	58.48
22	WJ18	4X	Carlow		737.26	12	17.26
8	MJ18	1X	Carlow	O'BrienS	740.31	12	20.31
4	MCL1	2X	Carlow		740.61	12	20.61
13	MCL1	1X	Carlow	NolanO	740.83	12	20.83
26	WJ18	2X	Commercial		741.19	12	21.19
8	MJ16	4X+	New Ross		745.35	12	25.35
27	WJ18	2X	Neptune		745.92	12	25.92
31	MJ16	1X	Carlow	KeatingJ	746.22	12	26.22
5	MI	1X	Carlow	MurphyN	751.87	12	31.87
7	MJ18	1X	Carlow	ByrneS	753.33	12	33.33
18	WJ18	2X	Commercial		754.74	12	34.74
28	WJ18	2X	New Ross		764.41	12	44.41
2	MCL1	4X+	Carlow		766.14	12	46.14
40	WJ16	2X	Commercial		770.11	12	50.11
10	MJ18	1X	Offaly	HarteS	776.23	12	56.23
125	WJ18	4X+	Neptune		779.69	12	59.69
10	WJ18	4X-	Commercial		780.43	13	0.43
14	MCL1	1X	Carlow	Jones S	780.71	13	0.71
24	WCL1	4X+	Commercial		787.11	13	7.11
11	WCL1	4X+	Commercial		789.79	13	9.79
19	WJ18	2X	Commercial	A	793.04	13	13.04
32	WCL1	1X	Commercial	OConnorC	793.81	13	13.81
3	MN	4X+	Neptune		795.14	13	15.14
9	MJ18	1X	Carlow	O'TooleA	795.6	13	15.6
9	MJ18	1X	Carlow	McHaleF	799.33	13	19.33
23	WJ18	4X	Commercial		800.15	13	20.15
27	WJ18	1X	Offaly	Mooney A	801.63	13	21.63
26	WJ18	1X	Neptune	Feerick C	801.71	13	21.71
34	WJ16	4X+	Neptune		804.45	13	24.45
25	WCL1	2X	Clydesdale		805.39	13	25.39
21	WJ18	2X	NewRoss		810.77	13	30.77
36	MJ15	2X	Carlow		811.01	13	31.01
20	WJ18	2X	Commercial	B	815.02	13	35.02
16	MCL1	1X	Offaly	Gannon A	815.6	13	35.6
35	WJ16	4X+	Offaly		821.72	13	41.72
1	MJ18	2X	Carlow	A	822.4	13	42.4
35	WCL1	1X	Carlow	Byrne A	824.33	13	44.33
23	MJ16	1X	Carlow	Mead H	825.95	13	45.95
29	WJ18	1X	Neptune	Clark A	826.14	13	46.14
31	MM	1X	Athlone	Gallen P (F)	828.59	13	48.59
43	WM	1X	New Ross	PattersonJ (C)	834.81	13	54.81
18	MJ16	4X+	Carlow		835.95	13	55.95
2	MJ18	2X	Neptune		837.8	13	57.8
34	MM	1X	Offaly	Hogan D (B)	856.1	14	16.1
6	MJ16	4X+	Carlow		861.36	14	21.36
17	MM	1X	Athlone	GallenP	862.09	14	22.09
54	WJ14	2X	Offaly		863.15	14	23.15
32	MM	1X	Lagan	Reid G (E)	867.55	14	27.55
17	MN	1X	New Ross	Jones E	868.3	14	28.3
37	WCL1	1X	New Ross	Walsh J	868.71	14	28.71
21	MJ16	2X	Neptune		876.38	14	36.38
45	WJ16	1X	New Ross	BrownL	878.95	14	38.95
44	WJ15	4X+	Commercial		882.52	14	42.52
51	WJ15	1X	New Ross	Pendergast	883.46	14	43.46
42	WJ16	1X	New Ross	Coughlan	883.46	14	43.46
28	WJ18	1X	Carlow	Webster C	884.33	14	44.33
24	WCL1	2X	Carlow		885.51	14	45.51
41	WJ16	1X	New Ross	Brown L	885.54	14	45.54
50	WJ15	1X	New Ross	TierneyS	888.33	14	48.33
15	MCL1	1X	New Ross	Ryan P	891.97	14	51.97
39	MJ15	1X	Carlow	Slattery	892.15	14	52.15
33	WCL1	1X	New Ross	WalshJ	892.49	14	52.49
16	MN	1X	New Ross	JonesE	892.5	14	52.5
47	WJ16	1X	New Ross	FlanagainC	893.68	14	53.68
3	MJ18	2X	Carlow	B	900.66	15	0.66
40	WJ15	4X+	Commercial		901.58	15	1.58
53	WCL1	2X	Clydesdale		905.5	15	5.5
49	WJ15	1X	New Ross	Pendergast F	910.12	15	10.12
45	WJ14	4X+	Commercial		917.67	15	17.67
39					924.32	15	24.32
56	WJ14	1X	Offaly	Murphy A	924.35	15	24.35
36	WCL1	1X	Commercial	Oçonnor C	930.67	15	30.67
50	WJ15	1X	New Ross	ByrneA	931.48	15	31.48
51	WM	1X	New Ross	Patterson J (C)	953.63	15	53.63
42	WJ18	1X	Tralee	TurnerL	971.73	16	11.73
115	MCL1	1X	Offaly	HoganS	984.53	16	24.53
41	WJ18	1X	Offaly	MooneyA	996.91	16	36.91
49	WJ14	4X+	New Ross		1008.28	16	48.28
46	WJ14	4X+	New Ross		1010.63	16	50.63
47	WJ15	2X	New Ross		1020.82	17	0.82
67	MJ14	4X+	Offaly		1046.22	17	26.22
48	WJ14	4X+	Commercial		1057.42	17	37.42
52	WM	1X	Offaly	Nolan C (B)	1060.9	17	40.9
30	MJ16	1X	Carlow	ConnorsJ	1092.85	18	12.85
14	MCL1	1X	New Ross	RyanP	1105.11	18	25.11
46	WJ16	1X	New Ross	CoughlanA	1106.02	18	26.02
53	MJ14	1X	Carlow	Connors T	1172.89	19	32.89
52	WJ15	1X	New Ross	TierneyS	1269.05	21	9.05
43	WJ16	1X	Offaly	Dowling E	1272.04	21	12.04
38	MJ15	1X	Carlow	Heslin S	1475	24	35
6	MJ18	1X	Athlone	FlynnD
11	MM	4X+	Neptune
15	MCL1	1X	Offaly	HoganS
25	WCL1	4X+	Neptune
37	MJ14	4X+	Carlow
5	MI	1X	Carlow	Murphy N
12	WCL1	4X+	Neptune
13	MCL1	1X	Athlone	Flynn D
30	WJ18	1X	Tralee	Turner A
33	MM	1X	Lagan	Phelan J (E)
44	WJ14	4X+	Carlow
48	WJ15	1X	Commercial	O'TooleD
55	WJ14	1X	Commercial	McCannon

#Rowing: Cambridge won the 2016 men’s Boat Race on the Thames today. Oxford started well, but in extremely difficult conditions, Cambridge established an early lead and kept a good rhythm down the long course, even as Oxford never gave up. 

 The women’s race was extraordinary. Oxford won, but in what Oxford women’s boat club president Maddy Badcott called “insane conditions”, Cambridge took in so much water that they almost sank. They somehow kept going and finished.

#ROWING: The challenges on the Cork Sculling Ladder gained some traction on Saturday after a week with postponements and withdrawals. Henrik Merz of Shandon had a busy week: he won on Thursday but was beaten on Saturday.

Results.

Tuesday 22.03.2016.

(4) Dan Begley  -  Shandon Boat Club  v  (3) Jack Casey  -  UCC Rowing Club. Race postponed due to Casey not well. Begley informed. Race now on Thursday 24.03.2016 at 06.20pm..

Wednesday. 23.03.2016.

(5) Stephen O’Sullivan  -  Shandon Boat Club  v  (3) Jack Casey  -  UCC Rowing Club.  Non race.

Casey (UCC Rowing Club) led well at  the half way stage from O’Sullivan (Shandon BC), but had to stop due to illness. Both scullers to re row at a later date.

Re row on Friday 25.03.2016 at 06.20pm or on Saturday 26.03.2016 at 08.20am.

Starter / Umpire : Finbarr Desmond / Kieran O’Sullivan.  

(FC)(72) Anne O’Farrell  -  Cork Boat Club  v  (69) Jennifer Crowley  -  Shandon Boat Club.  Postponed to Thursday 24.03.2016 at 06.10pm.

Thursday 24.03.2916.

 (19) Henrik Merz  -  Shandon Boat Club bt  (FC)(35) Brian O’Keeffe  -  Shandon Boat Club.  5 L.

(FC)(72) Anne O’Farrell  -  Cork Boat Club  bt (69) Jennifer Crowley  -  Shandon Boat Club.  5 L.

(4) Dan Begley  -  Shandon Boat Club  v  (3) Jack Casey  -  UCC Rowing Club.   No race.  Casey ill.

 (29) Shane Crean  -  Lee Rowing Club bt  (40) Cian O’Sullivan  -  Cork Boat Club.  5 L.

Umpires :  Finbarr Desmond and Kieran Hughes.

                   (10) Liam O’Connell  -  Cork Boat Club  v  (7) Darragh Larkin  -  Lee Rowing Club.   ---------   O’Connell withdrew challenge  ----  cancelled.

                    (21) Cormac Corkery  -  Cork Boat Club  v  (18) Hugh Sutton  -  Lee Rowing Club.  ---------   Corkery withdrew challenge  ----  cancelled.

                    (13) Barry Connolly  -  Cork Boat Club  v  (8) Barry O’Flynn  -  Cork Boat Club.  ---------   Connolly withdrew challenge   -----   cancelled.    

Friday. 25.03.2016.

                   (FC)(107) Hannah Cummins  -  Lee Rowing Club  v  (82) Sophie Grey  -  Lee Rowing Club.  --- postponed until Saturday.

                   (59) Kieran White  -  Cork Boat Club  v  (57) Noel Carey  -  Shandon Boat Club.  Cancelled, White withdrew challenge.

                   (8) Barry O’Flynn  -  Cork Boat Club  v  (6) Sean Lonergan  -  Shandon Boat Club. Cancelled,  O’Flynn withdrew challenge. .

                   (4) Dan Begley  -  Shandon Boat Club  v  (3) Jack Casey  -  UCC Rowing Club.  Cancelled.

Saturday 26.03.2016.

 (22) Evan Curtin  -  Cork Boat Club.  bt (16) David Higgins  -  Presentation College Rowing Club.   4L.

 (50) Conor Twohig  -  Cork Boat Club bt  (45) Patrick Kenneally  -  Presentation College Rowing Club.   1 1/4L.

 (25) Donal Smith  -  Shandon Boat Club bt   (20) Henrik Merz  -  Shandon Boat Club.  1 3/4L.                   

 (47) Tim Buckley  -  Lee Rowing Club bt  (48) David Cosgrave  -  Shandon Boat Club.  5L.

 (82) Sophie Grey  -  Lee Rowing Club bt  (FC) (107) Hannah Cummins  -  Lee Rowing Club.  5L.

 (10) Liam O’Connell  -  Cork Boat Club.  bt (11) Cathal Merz  -  Shandon Boat Club.  5L.

Starter / Umpires : Finbarr Desmond, Kieran O’Sullivan and Pat Hickey.

  

Challenges :

Sunday.

09.00am.  (FC)(91) Marie Kidney  -  Lee Rowing Club  v  (82) Sophie Grey  -  Lee Rowing Club.

09.10am.  (4) Dan Begley  -  Shandon Boat Club  v  (1) Ronan Byrne  -  Shandon Boat Club.

Monday. 28.03.2016.

06.00pm.   (FC)(86) Claragh O’Sullivan  -  Cork Boat Club  v  winner of 09.00am race on Sun. 27.03.2016. {(FC)(91) Marie Kidney  - Lee RC  v (82) Sophie Grey  -  Lee RC.

Over 140 secondary school students and 18 volunteers from Galway City attended the first Connacht #Blitzit2016 Challenge which took place at NUI Galway. The challenge, a curriculum within the Get Going, Get Rowing programme, saw students competing in a series of physical challenges, culminating in an indoor rowing challenge covering a total of 90,000m to symbolise the distance from Galway to Rio. 

The Get Going, Get Rowing programme in Connacht gives secondary school pupils the opportunity to actively engage with a new sport on NUI Galway’s campus or within the students’ own schools. The programme is run by Rowing Ireland who received funding from The Irish Sports Council (ISC) Women in Sport initiative in 2014. In November 2014, Rowing Ireland joined forces with NUI Galway to to jointly fund the Get Going, Get Rowing programme in Connacht.

Mike Heskin, recently appointed Director of Sport and Physical Activity at NUI Galway, said: “NUI Galway, as one of the major rowing universities in Ireland, is delighted to be involved with Rowing Ireland in this very exciting project. As 2016 will be a very exciting year for rowing, with Ireland being represented by two crews in Rio, I hope events such as this will inspire those taking part to have aspirations to be the best they can be and possibly compete in an Olympic Games in the future. ”

The NUI Galway Schools’ Challenge commenced with a flurry of activity where groups of 25 students in five separate groups rotated from one activity to the next at high speed. They finished the challenge by completing 40 minutes of racing on indoor rowing machines. This was then followed by a series of talks on nutrition, mindful movements and the positive effects of physical activity on academic results. 

The Get Going, Get Rowing programme also offers schools a training course, TrY rowing, to Transition Year students and provides coaching sessions in these schools upon completion of the course. To date, over 50 TrY students have become coaches and the programme provided indoor rowing machines (ergometers) to schools who have completed the TrY rowing and who have fully engaged with the programme.

#Rowing: The final schedule for the Ireland trials this weekend at the National Rowing Centre has been released. The adult events are now sited primarily on the Sunday, with just the men’s under-23 heavyweight double sculls being added to the big junior programme on the Saturday, March 19^th. The first time trials, for junior men’s pairs, start earlier than originally scheduled, at 8.30 am because of concerns about the weather. Finals for juniors are scheduled for the Saturday afternoon.

#Rowing: UCD carried off the Gannon and Corcoran Cups for senior men and women in the Colours races on the Liffey today. In both races, strong starts in the difficult conditions were the key. In the Corcoran Cup, the bigger and more powerful UCD women’s crew had one quarter length by the Ha’penny Bridge, and coming through Capel Street Bridge they extended it to over a length. They went on to win comfortably. The UCD men’s crew also got off the start much more smoothly than Trinity. Trinity mounted a number of attacks down the course, but UCD held them off and won by over a length.

 The novice men’s race for the Dan Quinn Shield provided Trinity with a chance to impress, with the crew in white taking command early and having the race won by the Four Courts. The novice women’s race was similarly one-sided, with UCD having only to paddle home after Trinity’s stroke woman caught a crab after only a few seconds of the race.

Colours Races 2016, O’Connell Bridge to St James’s Gate, Saturday:

 Men – Senior (Gannon Cup): UCD (E Gleeson, D Somers, T Hughes, A Griffin, E O’Connor, M Murphy, S Mulvaney, D O’Malley; cox: O Reid) bt Trinity 1 1/3 l . Novice (Dan Quinn Shield): Trinity bt UCD, easily.

 Women – Senior (Corcoran Cup): UCD (D Callanan, J Coleman, A O’Riordan, E Lambe, O Finnegan, R Gilligan, S Bennett, K O’Connor; cox: J Gilligan) bt Trinity a distance. Novice (Sally Moorhead Trophy): UCD bt Trinity easily.