#rowing – Carrick Rowing Club announce that this year's August bank holiday regatta will be as big as ever with over 170 different crews racing on Sunday 5th August.
Crews from 18 different clubs from around the country will compete in 30 different categories from Junior 14s right through to Veteran Masters who have been coming to the banks of the Shannon for as long as they can remember of an August Bank Holiday.
Carrick Regatta is raced over a not too arduous 450m and is a real sprint regatta. Crews always enjoy this distance on the Shannon as they wind down from Julys National Championships raced over 2000m in Inishcara in County Cork. Indeed there will be lots of crews out to take scalps from newly crowned national champions! However every result and place on the on the day will count as clubs also compete for the much sought after Carrick on Shannon Perpetual Trophy. Coupled with this Carrick Regatta again hosts the finals of the Waterways Junior "Row for It" Leagues and with only a few points between the leaders in many of the categories there will be some very exciting finals come Sunday afternoon. The Waterways League offers Junior Rowers a chance to build experience over the course of the season and with points for 1st 2nd and 3rd it might just be that the most consistent rowers over the season come out with the overall honours
This year's draw features some fine head to head battles with some of the biggest and best clubs going at it on the day. In the Mens Senior 4s and Senior 8s we have UCD, Athlone, NUIG and City of Derry looking for a share of the spoils while in the Mens Senior Single Carrick's Paul Little will be looking reign supreme. Paul has had a fantastic season now competing in the national senior ranks after some very successful years as a junior under the guidance of Kieran Hynes, Carrick RC. In the Senior Ladies Sections NUIG again feature with some tough opposition from some Belfast crews
In the Mens Veteran Masters sections there are no less than 6 mens 8s, 7 mens 4's, 8 mens doubles and 10 mens Single scullers competing. This is very pleasing for all the organisers in Carrick that our regatta is held in such high esteem by these men the backbone of Irish rowing clubs over the years. It is also a reflection on the hard work done and friendships built on by Carrick stalwarts such as Tony Keane, Breffni Hyland and Gabriel Cox over the years travelling the length and breadth of the country. For the Ladies Masters section there are a number of entries in doubles and singles with our friends from Lagan Scullers slipping a number of crews.
In the Junior Competitions Carrick will be having a very busy day with entries in most competitions in Junior 14, 15, 16 and 18s. The committee and everyone at the club take great delight in this. Many of these younger juniors only took to the water this time last year and we now see fine young Oarsmen and Oarswomen capable of competing with the best around the country. This is due to the dedicated core of coaches working hard at the club with many of them juggling many different roles on the committee as well also. To list all our competing Juniors at this stage would probably take til next week's edition but suffice to say if you are passing the bridge at any stage on Sunday there will plenty of Carrick Blue coming up and down the river especially in the afternoon when we get to the finals stage of the regatta.
We are delighted to say again that we look forward to welcoming all our friends from around the country near and far. This year we welcome Athlone BC, Bann RC, Belfast BC, Belfast RC, Carlow RC, City of Derry BC, Fermoy RC, Lady Victoria BC, Lagan Scullers Club, Lee RC, NUI Galway BC, Offaly RC, Portadown BC, Queens University Belfast BC, Sligo RC, St. Josephs College Galway RC and U.C.D. BC. We hope they all enjoy their time in Carrick and have no doubt they will be given a good Leitrim welcome. Carrick Rowing Club would like extend an invitation to one and all around Carrick on Regatta day to come down and have a look from the Quays,
Give a bit of a shout for Carrick if it takes your fancy, come in to our club and have a cuppa with us- you never know who you might meet, have a look around the new club building but mostly soak up the fun, craic and occasion that is Carrick Regatta one of the oldest sporting events in the country.
