Purple patch continues for Clonmel Rowing Club with more success at Inniscarra

The Munster Branch regatta took place last Saturday at the NRC (National Rowing Centre) in Inniscarra. This regatta was held under the stewardship of Pat Kinsella, aided and abetted by Nollaig O’Dwyer and it turned out to be a wonderful success, thanks to the efforts of all the Clonmel Rowing Club volunteers. Our  juniors manned the stake boats and this experience should stand them in good stead in the future, as they will have picked up a few tips on preparation for the all- important start of a race. 

It’s great to see the  team spirit that is prevalent in the club and the coaches and parents can be justifiably pleased with how the CRC crews acquit themselves both on and off the water. As far as  results go, we are going through a purple patch at the moment, with several wins coming our way at many of the regattas.

We are all delighted for our newer members when they win their first race and several of our juniors did just that on Saturday. There was great joy in the Wall household when Edward Wall, rowing with Chris Kane, chalked up their maiden victory, winning the men’s J14 2x in a boat named after Edward’s grandfather, Dermot Wall.

The Lenehan sisters, Freya and Sofia, got off the  mark when they were part of the W Club 4x+. Anna Kiely, Siofra O’Loughlin and Kate Meehan were the other members of this crew and these girls had a busy day in their respective single sculls races. Most impressive was Kate Meehan’s victory in the J18 1x.  Having won her heat easily, she spreadeagled the field in the final, coming home with four lengths to spare over the nearest finisher. 

They say lightning doesn’t strike twice, but Kate’s mum Ciara won the club lotto for the second time in three weeks. Barry was hoping to get a new set of rims for the bike,  but Ciara and Kate have other ideas. 

Branwen Kelly, Nell McCarthy, Helen Mhic Chonmara, Sandra Wall, Michelle Gregory, Denise Fleming, Chris Morrissey, Michelle O’Halloran, Nicola Keating and Ruth Hennessy pose for a picture at the Munster Branch Regatta at Inniscarra on Saturday

Also in the single sculls, Ciaran Hickey finished third in the men’s club 1x and earlier Rory Keely caught the eye with a good win in his heat of the J18 1x.  In the final Rory was in contention with 500m to go, but  eventually had to settle for third place. This result gives us great hope for the future. 

Anna Kiely qualified for the final of the WJ16 1x, with victory just beyond her grasp on this occasion. 

Our J15 to J18 men’s crews will be disappointed to have come home empty-handed but they can take solace from the fact that they all raced well and were beaten by  small margins. Third spot seemed to be the order of the day for the boys in J16 4x, J18 4x, J18 2x, J16 2x, J15 2x and Brian Hurley in the J18 1x. 

The 2x is proving to be a very popular boat class for CRC and the masters women  put out four boats in this class, and Helen Mhic Chonmara and Nell McCarthy duly obliged with a good win.Later on we had two wins in the W masters 4x.

The crew of Sandra Wall, Michelle Gregory, Michelle O’Halloran and Helen Mhic Chonmara combined well to take the win. Not to be outdone, the other crew of Denise Fleming, Nell McCarthy, Chris Morrissey and Branwen Kelly rowed with great determination  to cross the line in first place. 

The men’s masters 4x of Paul Nugent, Tom O’Donnell, Paul Kelly and Andrew Bourke was a new combination and rowed well to come second behind a decent Lee crew.

In the 2x Andy Ryan and Donal Lyons gave their all, but they were never going to catch the Paul Nugent/Tony Corcoran  2x. At 78 Tony Corcoran was the oldest competitor on the day.

 Clonmel rowers  will be going back to Inniscarra on  Saturday, June 22 for the Cork regatta. 

This weekend Daire Lynch of CRC and Philip Doyle, Portora Boat Club will represent Ireland in the 2x at the World Rowing Cup regatta in Poland. With the Olympic Games just five weeks away, Daire Lynch’s family are brushing up on their quelque mots Francais in preparation for the trip to Paris, and Clonmel Rowing Club is  eagerly anticipating this momentous occasion.