This years championship was well attended with all the Universities and almost 20 schools from all 4 corners in Ireland in Cork.
The weather was a little chilly but dry and the 2000 metre 7 lane course had a tricky cross course breeze. All rowers had to contend with the wind trying to get under there blades and tipping them over. This was Castletroys College 3rd year at the championships and there was a team of 20 students from 3rd to sixth year at the regatta
Many students had risen at 5am to be in Cork by 8am were now ready for action. They had spent the last 8 months training in the UL rowing centre and in the picturesque village of Castleconnell, on the banks of the Shannon River.
Our 1st race was off at 9.10 am with Alison McDevitt and Leah Quinlan in a double scull , The ladies were under press from the off when a strong cross wind pushed the crew broad side into their lane . There were not able to recover from this start but finished a creditable 3rd from 5 entries.
Next up was the Mens J18 Double scull of Adrian Sheehan and David Quinlan -national champs from 2011 and both Irish international rowers. They raced the heats and semi s with confidence but unfortunitly after a long days racing they were late to the start of the final and disqualified. This was a race that they should have easily won.
At 12.30 we had the women Junior 18 quad of Ailish Griffin, Megan Donnegan, Claire Silke and Leah Quinlan they won the heat by a very impressive 3 lengths. In the Final the girls had technical difficulties with the steering a and could not get the boat to row in a straight t line.
This ladies race was followed at 12.40 by a new and impressive pairing of Grainne Fullen and Eileen Russell in there first race together.
The men came back at 12.50 with Eoghan Whittle 2nd year and Cathal Killeen TY again a new pairing going thru the heats semi’s and final to win the Mens first medals of the day.
Following the juggling of some start times and sharing a top class Empacker 8+ kindly loaned by Castleconnell Boat Club, the ladies were off first. They were expertly stroked by the international experienced pair of Aoife O Leahy and Hanna O Sullivan. The rest of the crew was made up of the ladies J18 quad and Bow pair of Laura Walsh and Alison McDevitt, with Eileen Russell as Cox. The ladies were in the lead from the off and finished a lovely race 2 lengths in front.
The Junior 18 Men had a very tough race. The crew include Cian Costello and Julian Corbett returning to the crew while preparing for his leaving cert. The boys were beating to the line by a CBC, Cork crew; the verdict was ¾ of a length.
Our men’s J18 Quad was now in the final at 4.45 pm it was stroked by Adrian Sheehan and David Quinlan at 3 seat. The bow pair was the experienced Cathal Moloney and a new rower Stephen O Connor. The guys rated 50 strokes a minute off the start and the plan was to lose all opposition early on, but after 800 metres in lane 7 they had Presentation Brothers Cork matching them stroke for stroke. The Stroke Adrian Sheehan called for a power 10 at the 1000 meter mark and the rest of the field started to drop off on at a time. The lads finished by a clear 3 lengths and with wild cheers form the enclosure, this helped make up for the early loss in the 8.
On the day we had wins in the Ladies J18 eights, the men’s J18 Quad and the junior 16 2X. These results with top 3 placing made sure that the Castletroy college crews finished 2nd in the league on the day. What makes this special is the fact that the school rowing program is only in place since 2010 and we were beating into 2nd place by Colaiste Iognade, Galway with over 60 years of rowing pedigree.
I would like to thank all those that contributed to making this regatta a tremendous success- the rowers, parents, teachers, school, helpers on the day and Castleconnell Boat Club.