#Rowing: A number of races were held as part of the Cork Sculling Ladder at the Marina in Cork today. The conditions were rated as fair. Illness ruled out some of the proposed competitors and their challenges were postponed until the middle of this month.  

Results from the 2015 – 2016 Cork Sculling Ladder Challenges as on Sunday 31.01.2016 held at the Marina course, Cork.

1. (84) Luke Lee  -  Lee Rowing Club.  2. (89) Conor O’Callaghan  -  Cork Boat Club.   5 lenghts.

Umpire : Kieran Hughes.   Starter : Finbarr Desmond.

(13) Barry Connolly  -  Cork Boat Club  v  (11) Thomas Murphy  -  Lee Rowing Club. Postponed until mid-February. Connolly ill.

1.(22) Cormac Corkery  -  Cork Boat Club.  2. (21) Luke Guerin  -  Lee Rowing Club.  5 lengths.

Umpire : Kieran Hughes.  Starter : Finbarr Desmond.

1. (15) Feargal O’Sullivan  -  Cork Boat Club.  2. (14) David Breen  -  Lee Rowing Club.  5 lengths.

Umpire : Pat Hickey.  Starter : Finbarr Desmond.

(FC)(31) Liam O’Connell  -  Cork Boat Club  v  (12) Hugh Deasy  -  Lee Rowing Club. Postponed until mid-February.  O’Connell ill.

(FC)(30) Evan Curtin  -  Cork Boat Club  v  (23) Peter Jackson  -  Lee Rowing Club. Postponed until mid-February. Jackson ill.

1. (39) Ray Fitzgerald  -  Lee Rowing Club.  2. (FC)(52) Conor Twohig  -  Cork Boat Club.  5 lengths. 

Umpire : Pat Hickey.  Starter : Finbarr Desmond.

1.       (19) Conor Cudden  -  Shandon Boat Club.  2. (17) Hugh Sutton  -  Lee Rowing Club.  2 lengths.

 Umpire : Kieran Hughes.  Starter : Finbarr Desmond.

#Rower of the Month: The Afloat Rower of the Month for January 2016 is Paul O’Donovan. The UCD oarsman produced a remarkable time of six minutes 7.5 seconds at the Irish Indoor Rowing Championships to smash the Irish record for a lightweight – the time of 6:14.6 set by his brother Gary earlier in the open competition. Paul is 21 and competed in the under-23 section. Sanita Puspure and Claire Lambe were amongst those who set new records at the championships. Paul O’Donovan and Gary O’Donovan will compete for Ireland as a lightweight double scull at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro later this year.

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 2016. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2016 champions list grow.

#Rowing: The organisers of the Neptune Head of the River this Saturday, December 30^th, have decided to go ahead with the event. The weather forecast is for winds of 12 to 20 kilometres per hour at Blessington, which would leave the course rowable. The course has to be laid, and there is a chance that the event could yet be cancelled, but only if the weather forecast changes significantly. 

#Rowing: A horde of Irish records fell at the Irish Indoor Rowing Championships at the University of Limerick today. Sanita Puspure set a new time for the women’s open category of 6 minutes 36.7 seconds. The second fastest time was also a record, as 17-year-old Emily Hegarty clocked 6:57.0, lopping over two  seconds off the old junior record set by Lisa Dilleen. Claire Lambe’s time of 7 minutes 12.6 seconds was a new Irish record for a lightweight woman.

  Paul O’Donovan set an excellent time for the lightweight under-23 category – 6:07.5 – over two seconds better than his previous personal best. His brother and soon-to-be Olympic crewmate, Gary, had been the fastest in the open lightweight section, with a time of 6:14.6. The men’s junior 18 category was won by Cathal Cummins in a new Irish record of 6:16.2. Sam McKeown’s hopes of breaking six minutes in the men’s open category fell short, though his time of 6:02.9 was 1.8 seconds better than his previous best.

 Other record breakers on the day included Paul Gallen (lightweight men, 60 to 69), Niall O’Brien (open, 50-59), Priscilla O’Sullivan (women’s open, 50-59) and Catherine McKeon (pararowing, legs trunk and arms).

Irish Indoor Rowing Championships, University of Limerick, Saturday (Selected Results)

Men

Open: 1 S McKeown 6:02.9, 2 T Oliver 6:03.2, 3 P Buchanan 6:09.6, 4 P Doyle 6:10.7, 5 D Brown 6:13.0, 6 K Coughlan 6:13.1. Under-23: 1 J Casey 6:18.3, 2 D Mitchell 6:18.5, 3 P Munnelly 6:19.7. Junior 18: 1 C Cummins 6:16.2, 2 R Byrne 6:16.7, 3 D Lynch 6:18.3. Jun 16: R Tummon 6:38.2.

Lightweight – Open: 1 G O’Donovan 6:14.6, 2 M O’Donovan 6:18.0, 3 S O’Driscoll 6:18.8, 4 L Keane 6:24.8.

Under-23: 1 P O’Donovan 6:07.5, 2 S Mulvaney 6:21.8, 3 L Seaman 6:25.7

Pararowing – LTA (1,000m): S Ryan 3.30.6.

Women

Open: 1 S Puspure 6:36.7, 2 M Dukarska 6:58.9, 3 L Kennedy 7:01.9, 4 A Keogh 7:06.1, 5 S Bennett 7:13.8, 6 R Maguire 7:15.0. Under-23: 1 S Bounane 7:16.8, 2 E Lambe 7:18.6, 3 S Murphy 7:30.1. Junior 18: E Hegarty 6:57.0, 2 H Scott 7:20.7, 3 M Cremin 7:23.6. Jun 16: C Nic Dhonncha 7:35.6.

Lightweight – Open: 1 C Lambe 7:12.6, 2 Sarah Dolan 7:17.0, 3 S McCrohan 7:18.4. Under-23: E McGiff 7:41.9.

Pararowing – LTA (1,000m): C McKeon 3:37.1.

 Best Overall Club (Eddie Crean Trophy): St Joseph’s, Galway

#Rowing: Muckross Rowing Club has chosen to reschedule its head of the river for March 5^th. The original date was December 5^th, but there was a poor weather forecast and the head had to be cancelled. The March 5^th date will be shared with the Erne Head of the River in Enniskillen.  

#Rowing: The Cork Sculling Ladder had a set of races on Sunday, December 20^th at the Marina. In springlike conditions of showers and sunshine, water conditions were suprisingly good. Luke Guerin, who was late for his race with Conor Twohig, eventually came out on top. Twohig accepted a race, but suffered an injury.

Cork Sculling Ladder Results, December 20^th

Race 1.   (FC)(55) Cormac Corkery  -  Cork Boat Club bt (22) Peter Jackson  -  Lee Rowing Club.   5 Lengths.

Race 2.  (14) Barry Connolly  -  Cork Boat Club bt (13) David Breen  Lee Rowing Club.   6 Lengths.

Race 3.  (7) Darragh Larkin  -  Lee Rowing Club bt (10) Barry O’Flynn  -  Cork Boat Club.   6 Lengths.

Race 4.  (52) Conor Twohig  -  Cork Boat Club  Row over (51) Luke Guerin  -  Presentation College Rowing Club, failed to turn up at start on time.

Race 5.  (52) Luke Guerin  -  Presentation College Rowing Club bt  (51) Conor Twohig  -  Cork Boat Club, DNF (Did not finish). Injured his back.

Race 6. (24) Eoin Larkin  -  Lee Rowing Club bt (27) Sam O’Neill  -  Shandon Boat Club, DNF, capsized at 900 metres.

Race 7.  (49) Alex Byrne  -  Shandon Boat Club bt (43) bt Morgan O’Hara  -  Lee Rowing Club.   5 Lengths.

Race 8. (32) Liam O’Connell  -  Cork Boat Club bt (31) Conor McCarthy  -  Cork Boat Club.   6 Lengths.

Race between (33) Eoin Gaffney  -  Shandon Boat Club and (29) Shane Crean  -  Lee Rowing Club.  Cancelled.

Starter : Finbarr Desmond.   Umpires : Kieran Hughes and Pat Hickey.

Rearranged challenges for Sunday 27.12.2015.

(84) Kieran White  -  Cork Boat Club  v  (78) Cormac O’Connell  -  Presentation College Rowing Club. Time TBC.

(FC)(124) Eoin Power  - Cork Boat Club  v  (80) Jack Aherne  -  Cork Boat Club. Time TBC.

Challenges. Dates and Times TBA.

(17) Feargal O’Sullivan  -  Cork Boat Club  v  (15) David Higgins  -  Presentation College Rowing Club.

(33) Eoin Gaffney  -  Shandon Boat Club  v  (29) Shane Crean  -  Lee Rowing Club.

(45) Emmett Hickey  -  Shandon Boat Club  v  (42) David Collins  -  Cork Boat Club.

(27) Sam O’Neill  -  Shandon Boat Club  v  (26) Neil McCarthy  -  Cork Boat Club

Note :  Racing depends on weather conditions.

#CorkBoatClub - Cork city's largest rowing club has unveiled its new look after 18 months of renovations, as the Evening Echo reports.

Thanks to grant funding under the Sports Capital Programme, the works have "transformed our club and ensured that Cork Boat Club’s landmark clubhouse at Undercliffe is now a modern and exciting structure", according to the club's Des O'Sullivan.

Along with a refurbished gym and a replaced clubhouse roof, the project also involved the restoration of the historic Blackrock Coastguard Station on the club's grounds.

The "iconic" 1840s building was preserved with the assistance of Cork City Council’s Conservation Department.

The Evening Echo has more on the story HERE.

#Rowing: The Ireland trials set for this weekend have been cancelled. Weather conditions at the National Rowing Centre in Cork would not have been suitable. The athletes set to compete will next trial at the Irish Indoor Rowing Championships in Limerick on January 23^rd. The weights allowed will 73kg for lightweight men and 59.5 kg for lightweight women, which are those carried forward from the proposed December trial.

#Rowing: The Ireland trial this weekend is in doubt. The National Assessment has been fixed for the National Rowing Centre at Farran Wood on Saturday and Sunday, December 19^th and 20^th, but the weather forecast is not good. Rowing Ireland has announced that a decision will be made on Wednesday. “The conditions at present do not look great. We are keeping a very close eye on the wind forecast as well as the amount of flood water coming into the lake.”

#Rowing: The Muckross Head of the River, fixed for the National Rowing Centre in Cork on Saturday, has been cancelled. The organisers say the bad weather forecast, including high winds, would have presented an unacceptable safety risk. The Head of the Shannon, also set for Saturday, has already been cancelled.