#ROWING–Cold weather isn’t deterring the largest entry to date of Limerick’s St. Michael’s Rowing Club Head of the River(HOR) race which will be held on Saturday, January 28th in O’Brien’s Bridge.
Over 1000 athletes are entered in what is the largest Head of the River race on the Irish rowing calendar. Hosted by St. Michael’s Rowing Club from Limerick, the event has attracted 577 crews from 36 clubs all over the country to race on the River Shannon between Castleconnell and O’Brien’s Bridge.
The superb location is one of the reasons for the popularity of this sporting event. Competitors will commence racing from World’s End, Castleconnell and race against the clock over 3km to finish at O’Brien’s Bridge. The course is held on one of the country’s best stretches of waterway, which provided perfect rowing conditions at the race in 2011.
This is the first major rowing event of the 2012 season. St Michael's HOR was inaugurated in 1981 to fill a gap which existed in the rowing season. Commencing with a modest entry of 63 crews in 1981, the Limerick club has developed the event to be one of the largest rowing events in the country -attracting an annual entry many times of over 500 crews from all four provinces and reaching a new peak of 577 this year.
Chairman of the organising committee Pat McInerney said: “ the growth in the event every year is down to the hard work of the dedicated members of St Michael’s, some of whom have been there since the first race in 1981. The venue is great for both the rowers and the spectators. The past few years has seen a huge growth in junior rowing which in time will drive the senior numbers also.”
Head of River races are essentially time trials, with competitors starting every 15 seconds. This type of racing demands great endurance on the part of each athlete. Spectators will see all types of racing boat at the event from large eight’s powering down the course alongside individuals racing single sculls. Rowers compete in all age groups from Junior 15, 16, 18 to the adult grades of Novice, Intermediate, Senior & Masters levels.
There is a high calibre of entries competing next weekend, with a strong entry from the universities, schools, clubs from all four provinces and some rowers bidding to represent Ireland later this year.
St. Michael’s Rowing Club based at O’Callaghan Strand host the race annually. It takes a massive voluntary effort with over 50 members, parents and friends’ working to ensure everything runs smoothly on the day. St. Michael’s themselves have a big entry of 53 boats with a lot of new junior members getting their first taste of racing. Many of these were recruited over the past year through the successful summer camps which the club ran. Carrying on the back of huge success of the club in the National Championships last year, St. Michael’s are keen to put their stamp on season ahead.
Spectators can come along and enjoy the racing with best vantage points along the banks of the river at O’Briensbridge or you can see the starts at Worlds End in Castleconnell.
