Tipperary rowers competed on the water at events in Bulgaria and England
Recreational rowers enjoyed sweep-rowing in coastal boats on the lovely waters off Lisbon
The airlines did well out of the Clonmel rowers recently, with Daire Lynch competing in the European championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria; the club’s recreational rowers taking to the waters of the River Tagus in Lisbon, and Clonmel college rowers representing their academic institutions at the London Metropolitan Regatta.
Dominic Casey, coach to Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy, has taken over the reins as head coach from Antonio Maurogiovanni as the outgoing performance director of Rowing Ireland and the new broom has swept all before it.
All the crew line-ups that we were familiar with from last year’s Olympics are gone and we have to get our heads adjusted to new crew line-ups. We are at the start of a new Olympic cycle, so it’s a good time to try out new combinations.
Daire Lynch is now rowing in a coxless pair with Ross Corrigan, who came sixth in the pair at last year’s Olympics.
The lads came fourth in a very competitive heat in Bulgaria, just missing qualification for the A final. In the B final they finished third behind Czechia and AIN(Russia).
It’s early days yet for this pair and we should see improvement as they spend more time in this highly specialised boat.
Philip Doyle’s quad were also in the B final and they finished fifth, so they come away from Bulgaria feeing a little bit disappointed.
Clonmel’s recreational rowers of Joan Power, Ruth Maher, Sheila Nugent, Patricia Matthews and Mary O’Gorman tried their hand at sweep-rowing in coastal boats on the lovely waters off Lisbon. They thoroughly enjoyed the new experience and can’t wait to take the next steps on their rowing journey.
Across the water at the London Metropolitan Regatta, six former Clonmel rowers were competing for their colleges. There was a great result for Donnacha Keeley in the A Final of the men’s quad when UG emerged victorious in a nail-biting contest. This win will do Donnacha’s chances for selection for the Irish boat going to the World Under 23 championships taking place in Poland in July no harm.
Clonmel had a big interest in the men’s open eight, with three Irish boats in the eight- boat final. The crews are seeded in such a way that all races are very tight and at the 1,000 metres mark, barely a length separated all eight crews.
Newcastle University went on to win by half a length from Cork BC, who were coxed by Sarah Prendergast of Clonmel.
London RC were third, with UG finishing fifth, just ahead of UCD in sixth. James Hurley and Gerald Nugent were in the UG boat and were pleased to hold off the challenge of UCD, who they will be sure to meet in the Irish Rowing Championships in July.
Laura Meehan was in the UL 8 and these girls rowed above and beyond themselves to win the C8. They were the fastest ladies college crew and the fastest ladies Irish crew at the regatta. This will give a great boost to their confidence when they try to defend their Irish Senior 8s title in July.
Tom Whelan was in the UCD intermediate 8 and they finished fourthth in their final against some fancied UK crews.