Four wins made it a very good day for this Tipperary rowing club at Neptune Regatta
Clubs came from all over the country to compete at Islandbridge
The first regatta of the 2025 season and four wins in the bag for Clonmel Rowing Club. We’ll take that.
Neptune Regatta, held on the Liffey at Islandbridge in Dublin, drew a large contingent of clubs from all around the country.
It was a long day for the rowers, with the first race getting underway at 7am and it was full tilt thereafter, with a race taking place every four minutes until the event concluded with the last race at 7.30pm.
Well done to the race organisers and to the crews for keeping the whole operation running smoothly over the course of 180 races throughout the day.
The sun shone brightly but the boats had to battle against a strong headwind.
Clonmel Rowing Club had two J18 men's quads and they both got through the early rounds comfortably.
They were drawn against each other in the quarter-final, where the A crew progressed after a ding-dong battle.
The A crew won the semi-final against Athlone and in the final they squared up to the host club Neptune. Neptune had the better start, but the Clonmel crew stuck to their task and with the first bend in their favour they moved alongside Neptune and gradually wore them down. These boys have plenty of stamina and went on to win by a length.
The Clonmel women’s club 4x+ had an easier passage to the final and when it came down to the business end of the race these girls held their composure to pull out a clear margin of victory over their opponents DULBC (Dublin University Ladies Boat Club).
By this stage Clonmel were on a roll and didn’t have to wait too long for their next win, which came in the men’s J15 2x.
The tidy duo of Edward Wall and Chris Kane had the upper hand over Athlone.
Kate Fogarty had a camogie match en route to Dublin, which she won, and she made it a double in the women’s J15 2x rowing with Millie Crean. These girls have struck up a good partnership and after a tight battle with Carlow they drew clear to win by a length and a half.
Paul Nugent went in the masters 1x, where he finished midway in the pack having had to forfeit too much time in the handicap.
Meanwhile, congratulations to Jimmy Fennessy on achieving a milestone birthday.
The club heads to the NRC for Skibbereen Regatta this weekend, providing that the wind speed stays below the critical 23 kilometres per hour.