#Rowing: Shandon had an excellent day at the Skibbereen Head of the River at the new venue of the Marina in Cork on Saturday. Their men’s senior eight were the fastest winning crew. Competing in the fourth fixed head, they clocked 10 minutes and 50 seconds. UCC’s senior eight were six seconds further back. 

The fastest women’s single sculler was the outstanding junior, Emily Hegarty of the host club.

Skibbereen Head of the River, Saturday, The Marina, Cork (Selected Results, Fixed Head):

Men – Eight, Senior: Shandon 10 mins 50 secs. Inter: UCC 11:04. Masters: Muckross 11:52. Jun 18A: Cork 11:11. Jun 16: Shandon 11:44.

Four – Four: 11:04. Inter: UCC 11:15. Inter (coxed): Cork 11:29. Jun 18, coxed: St Brendan’s 12:36. Jun 16, coxed: Pres, Cork 12:44.

Pair – Jun 18A: Pres, Cork 13:31.

Sculling, Quadruple: Skibbereen 11:03. Jun 18A: Lee 11:27. Jun 16, coxed: Cork 11:47.

Double – Sen: Skibbereen A 12:17. Inter: Skibbereen 13:11.  Jun 18A: Lee 12:31.

Single –Sen: E Rowan 12:21. Inter: F McCarthy 12:19. Club One: D Larkin 12:41. Jun 18A: K Mannix 13:01. Jun 16: B O’Flynn 12:57. Masters: H Mertz 13:08.

Women

Eight, Inter: UCC 12.17. Jun 18A: Shandon 12:38. Jun 16: Shandon 13:48.

Four – Sen: Skibbereen 13:34. Inter: UCC 13:26. Jun 18A: Skibbereen 13:35.

Pair – Inter: UCC 13:46.

Sculling, Quad – Inter: UCC 12:56. Jun 18A: Skibbereen 13:14. Jun 16, coxed: Workman’s 13:44.

Double – Inter: 13:39. Nov: St Brendan’s A 15:26. Jun 16: Lee 13:18.

Single – Sen: O Hayes 13:46. Inter: E McCarthy 14:24. Club: M Cremen 14:09. Jun 18A: E Hegarty 13:44. Jun 16: C Synott 14:22.

#Rowing: Ronan Byrne of Shandon Boat Club and Margaret Cremin of Lee Rowing Club lead the Cork Sculling Ladder. The two leaders both placed well in the single sculls tests at the Ireland trial at the National Rowing Centre on Sunday. Below is the ladder, with section leaders listed.

# Rowing: Leonora Kennedy and Barbara O’Brien won the women’s pair final at the Ireland trial at the National Rowing Centre, beating the combination of Monika Dukarska and Aifric Keogh. Michael Maher, a former lightweight international, competed in the heavyweight single and won that final. Paul O’Donovan was the convincing winner of the lightweight single, while his brother and partner in the lightweight double, Gary, was second, 19 seconds back. Sanita Puspure won her heat of the heavyweight single convincingly and was exempted from having to compete in a final.

Ireland Trial, National Rowing Centre, Cork, Sunday (Selected Results; Finals unless stated):

Men

Pair: UCD 7:21.23.

Single Sculls: 1 M Maher 7:56.61, 2 S McKeown 7:59.18, 3 R Byrne 8:02.46

Lightweight Single: 1 P O’Donovan 7:22.63, 2 G O’Donovan 7:41.77, 3 S O’Driscoll 7:48.99.

Women

Pair: 1 L Kennedy, B O’Brien 8:10.35, 2 M Dukarska, A Keogh 8:19.19.

Single Sculls – (Heat): S Puspure 7:50.46. Under-23: 1 E Hegarty 8:56.88, 2 E Lambe 9:11.60, 3 M Cremin 9:16.75.

Lightweight Single: 1 C Lambe 8:17.22, 2 Sarah Dolan 8:26.55, 3 D Walsh 8:27.77.

# Rowing: Dave Neale of Old Collegians was the fastest sculler at the Dublin Sculling Ladder time trial on the Liffey on Saturday. The Offaly man had just under six seconds to spare over clubmate Sean Jacob, another former winner. Niall Beggan of Commercial was the fastest junior, and placed 12^th overall. Hazel O’Neill of Trinity won the yew goblet for being the top woman, and again a junior placed very well: Neptune’s Claire Feerick was just eight places and less than seven seconds behind O’Neill.   

Dublin Sculling Ladder Time Trial, Islandbridge  (Selected Results)

Men: 1 D Neale 6 min 15.10 seconds, 2 S Jacob 6:21.09, 3 D Kelly 6:28.51, 4 G DeVita 6:29.33, 5 C Dowling 6:33.50, 6 M Bailey 6:33.93. Junior: N Beggan 6:40.79. NJ: R Quinn 6:57.35.

Women: 1 H O’Neill 7:10.78, 2 B Quinn 7:22.79, 3 J Ryan 7:24.46. Junior: C Feerick 7:17.65. NJ: K O’Connor 7:50.69.

#Rowing: Ronan Byrne of Shandon Boat Club won the Cork Sculling Ladder time trial in an excellent time of six minutes 20.2 seconds today. Byrne had been the joint winner last year. Margaret Cremin of Lee Rowing Club was the fastest woman, in a time of 7:10.5.

One hundred and sixty six scullers competed in 44th time trial, sponsored by Hanley Calibration Ltd, over the 1800 metre course at the Marina. Some scullers competed twice: most sculled on the early incoming tide until nearly 11 am, helped by an easterly wind. Conditions early on were good, but once the tide changed they deteriorated and the ladder finished at 12 noon.

 Cremin, winner of the novice championship of Ireland this year, easily won from her clubmates, Willow Littlewood and Eimear Cummins.

 The 2015-2016 Cork Sculling Ladder continues with challenge races until the 28th March.  Scullers can join at any stage.

Cork Sculling Ladder, time trial (Selected Results) 

Men

1. Ronan Byrne (Shandon Boat Club) 6 mins 20.2 seconds,  2. Colm Hennessey (Shandon Boat Club) 6:23.1,  3. Jack Casey (UCC Rowing Club) 6:23.6, 4. Stephen O’Sullivan (Shandon Boat Club) 6:24.9,  5. Sean Lonergan (Shandon Boat Club) 2:27.5, 6. Darragh Larkin (Lee Rowing Club) 6:27.6.

Women

53. Margaret Cremin (Lee Rowing Club) 7:10.5,  67. Willow Littlewood (Lee Rowing Club) 7:26.5,  73. Eimear Cummins (Lee Rowing Club) 7:34.4,  74. Jennifer Crowley (Shandon Boat Club) 7:35.8.    

#Rowing: Dave Neale was an impressive winner of the Tullamore Time Trial. The Offaly man, competing for Old Collegians, had almost nine seconds to spare over Queen’s University lightweight Chris Beck. Rebecca Edwards of Queen’s was the fastest woman over the course, while Claire Feerick of Neptune was the fastest junior woman.

Tullamore Time Trial, Saturday (Selected Results)

Men – Senior: D Neale 8 mins 19.5 seconds, 2 C Beck 8:28.3, 3 P Doyle 8:33.2. Junior 18: A O’Connor 8:50.5. Jun 16: O Clune 9:12.1. Jun 15: J Keating 9:19.0.

Women – Sen: R Edwards 9:33.3 (head three), 2 Edwards 9:40.0 (hd 4), 3 C Feerick 9:53.0. Jun 18: C Feerick 9:54.4. Jun 16: S Dooley 10.30.1. Jun 15: E Dowling 10:43.7.

#RowingIrelandAGM: Delegates at the annual general meeting of Rowing Ireland in Dublin passed all the motions put before it by the board. Rowers entering the Irish Championships must now have competed at two events in Ireland; those in the high performance system will only be allowed to compete as seniors in that year. Two new, unelected, officers can be added to the board. There were also more techncial changes: the tracker system will now be the officially accepted way to do draws; the 100-metre breakages rule has been removed: fixtures submissions submitted late can be allocated a date of its choosing by the Domestic Events Committee.

 At a meeting before the AGM, Morten Espersen, the Ireland high performance director, and Don McLachlan, the Ireland lead coach, made the case for changes in the domestic season which they believe would benefit the international programme.

 Awards at AGM of Rowing Ireland: Connacht: Peadar O hIci; Leinster: John O’Keeffe; Munster: Dermot Wall (RIP); Ulster: Iain Kennedy. Presidents’ Award: Robert Northridge.  

A crew of 20 rowers who set off to circumnavigate the island of Ireland – a round trip of almost 1000 nautical miles – in a self-built 15ft skiff to raise funds for Cystic Fibrosis Ireland (CFI) have today arrived home after a challenging four months at sea.

The team, comprising 20 rowers of mixed ability and experience, set off from Bray, Co. Wicklow on May 30^th with crews of two oarsmen/women at a time rowing in relays. The rowers stopped at over 50 designated points along the coast before arriving home to a warm welcome from friends and family and members of the Bray community.

‘Row-A-Round Ireland’ is the brainchild of Bray-based maritime enthusiast Ger Crowley, who says the success of the trip was down to the dedicated crew of rowers and volunteers and the communities who came out to support the Row-A-Round Ireland team nationwide. 

“It’s was an ambitious project, a journey of almost 1000 nautical miles, but I am delighted to say we have arrived home today after completing the challenge safely. I’d like to take this time to thank each and every individual who provided support to this challenge whether it was by offering accommodation or providing invaluable local knowledge – we couldn’t have done it without the Irish people doing what they do best,” Crowley said.

“The other objective, of course, was to raise funds and awareness for Cystic Fibrosis Ireland. At the start of this initiative, we all decided upon a target we would like to hit, and while we have raised a huge amount so far, we are going to give it one last push over the next few weeks to hit that top note,” he said.

Their arrival was met with celebrations as the crew enjoyed a welcome home party on Bray Beach and Harbour with refreshments from Row-A-Round Ireland sponsor, Lyons Tea.

The team heavily relied on local community support along the way, with many members of the maritime community including rowing, sailing and diving clubs around the country providing support by offering food, accommodation as well as valuable advice and local knowledge.

Funds have been made as the boat rowed around the county, with all money going towards fighting Cystic Fibrosis, a fatal genetic disease that affects approximately one in 1600 births in Ireland, the country with the highest incidence of CF in the developed world.

To donate to Cystic Fibrosis Ireland simply text ROW4CF to 50300 to donate €4 or to get in touch with the crew in relation to the challenge visit www.rowaroundireland.com.

#rowingworldmasters – Ireland had an impressive set of wins at the World Masters Regatta, the four-day event which finished today in Hazewinkel in Belgium. There was a notable win in the men’s eight in the E category (average age 55 or more) where the Irish crew beat one of Russia’s best clubs, Dynamo Moscow, by less than a canvas - .31 of a second. The strokeman of the Russian crew, Vitali Eliseev, stroked the World Championship-winning four in 1981. The Irish crew was a composite of Old Collegians, Belfast Boat Club, Neptune, Waterford and Commercial. Denis Crowley – who was in the eight – won single sculls races in three different age categories. 

The Irish composite which beat Dynamo Moscow at the World Masters Regatta

World Masters Rowing Regatta, Hazewinkel, Belgium (Ireland Wins):

Men – Eight, E (Average 55 yrs or more): Old Collegians, Belfast BC, Neptune, Waterford, Commercial (John Hudson, Denis Crowley, Gerard Murphy, Michael Heavey, Colin Dickson, Colin Hunter, Francis O’Toole, Donal McGuinness, Al Penkert) 3 min 11.13 (1,000m)

Four, coxed, E (Average 55 yrs or more): Commercial, Belfast, Old Collegians, Waterford. Pair, E: Belfast BC. Pair, D (Avg 50+): Commercial. Pair, F (Avg 60+): Cappoquin.

Sculling – Double, F (Avg 60+): Carlow, Athlone. Single: B (36+), C (43+) and D (50+): Commercial (D Crowley). C (43+): Galway RC (S Heaney). 

Women – Sculling, Single, A (27+): Three Castles (B Quinn).

The best race of the World Rowing Championships in Aiguebelette was the men’s senior single sculls final. This pitted the favourite, Olympic champion Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand, against the 2014 world champion, Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic, with double Olympic champion Olaf Tufte of Norway and Angel Fournier Rodriguez also contending. Lithuania’s Mindaugas Griskonis set the early pace only for Synek to take over. Drysdale rowed him down and passed him in the final quarter. Game over. But it wasn’t. From somewhere, Synek produced a closing burst. He gained purchase on Drysdale metre by metre and then passed him coming up to the bubbles on the line. A stunning win in a memorable race.
Griskonis was third and Tufte, who has qualified for his fifth Olympics, fourth.
Listen to Drysdale, Tufte and Fournier Rodriguez talk about the friendly rivalry in this most difficult of all disciplines in the run up to the World Championships.