Some good wins for Clonmel rowers at Cork and Dublin regattas

Clonmel Rowing Club is beginning to look like a logistics company with members competing in three separate regattas on the weekend of May 18/19.

On the Saturday a few junior crews travelled to Cork for Lee Regatta and on the Sunday Pat Kinsella brought the high performance juniors to Neptune Regatta in Islandbridge.

Also on the Sunday Lee held a regatta dedicated to masters only, much to the satisfaction of all the masters rowers in Clonmel and Munster. The masters class is the fastest growing category in rowing and with the sun shining, large crowds strolling along the Marina, even larger trucks removing the stage and associated infrastructure from the Bruce Springsteen concert, the whole area was reminiscent of a hipster venue on the French Riviera.

Mixed Masters 2X winners at the Lee Regatta, Nell McCarthy and Paul Nugent

Moving on to Sunday, the mixed masters 2x of Nell McCarthy and Paul Nugent were the first crew to launch for CRC. The experienced duo dispatched their opponents from Tralee, Shandon and Lee in convincing fashion coming home by 2l to the good.

A quick turnaround for Paul as he headed back down to the start for the masters 1x where he faced club captain Alan Prendergast and three other scullers. As the race approached halfway, the two Clonmel scullers were to the fore. Alan Prendergast was whittling down Paul Nugent's lead. Displaying the tenacity that helped him win at Castleconnell, Paul, like Bruce Springsteen showed who was 'The Boss' and held on for a 1 length win.

With three CRC crews in the Women’s 2x, a Clonmel victory was always in the realms of possibility but Skibbereen and Lee should never be underestimated and at the business end of the race Skibbereen held off Clonmel.

The Ryan Bros., Stephen and Joseph had a great battle with Tralee before succumbing in the last 100m.

Team Ryan, Andy, Stephen & Joseph rowing with Donal Lyons and Nicola Keating steering, wouldn’t have to wait too long for their luck to change. They were the dominant force in the final of the men’s 4x+.

Alan Prendergast was trying hard for a win and it came when he rowed in the Castleconnell / Clonmel composite 8 with Nicola Keating sitting in the cox’s seat.

CRC went out on a high note in the five-boat final of the Women’s 4x+. The experienced crew of Denise Fleming, Nell McCarthy, Chris Morrissey, Branwen Kelly and Mary Jane Brasil coxing gave a powerful display to win by a length.

These were very good results for CRC and the good news wasn’t finished. At Neptune Regatta our juniors were in action with wins for Darragh Noonan in the men’s J16 1x and the mens J16 4x for Darren Kane, Darragh Noonan, Oisin Walsh and Keelan Hogan, coxed by Ciaran Hickey. The mens j18 4x of Ciaran Hickey, Rory Keely, Cian Mellerick and Darragh Noonan went down by the narrowest of margins in a nail biting finish.

In the Women's J16 1x and J18 1x our girls Anna Kiely and Kate Meehan exited at the semi-final stage.

Former Clonmel rower, Michael Fogarty, now resident in Cobh, was delighted to meet up with Clonmel RC legend Andy Ryan at the Lee Regatta in Cork last weekend.

CLUB LOTTO WIN

Michael Green landed the spoils in last week’s club lotto. To all our ex rowers who follow us on Facebook, we invite them to join our lotto.

TWO MONTHS TO PARIS

With just two months or so to go to the Olympics, Daire Lynch is with the Irish squad at their training camp in Italy. He will probably have 1 more regatta before the Olympics and the intense preparations are going well.