Clonmel rowers on the crest of a wave at Irish championships

The Irish Rowing Championships took place last weekend at the National Rowing Centre (NRC) in Inniscarra. At this stage the car could drive down on its own to this venue, as Clonmel Rowing Club (CRC) have been there so often over the last year.

With 1,169 competitors from 51 clubs taking part, the event is going from strength to strength, as Irish rowing is on the crest of a wave. Rowing has 16 athletes taking part in the Olympics in just over a week’s time, including Daire Lynch from Clonmel, and let’s not forget Donnacha Keeley, who is going to Canada to take part in the World Under 23 championships in August.

While Clonmel did not directly win any of the rowing championships this year, Clonmel rowers competing for their clubs and universities did. The blue riband event in Irish rowing is the men’s and women’s senior 8s. Sarah Lonergan from Clonmel did a superb job in coxing the Cork BC 8 to victory over UCD.

Sarah is a teacher at St Oliver’s NS in Clonmel.

Drawing on her years of experience in coxing, Sarah read the race well, got her crew out in front and kept them there, despite repeated attacks from UCD who were going for four in a row senior 8s titles.

Another Clonmel person coming home with a senior 8s title is Laura Meehan. Laura, now rowing with UL, was part of the UL/ Shannon crew that won the Women’s senior 8. At the halfway mark UCD, UG and UL/Shannon were level, with UCC a further length down.

From here it developed into a two-horse race between UL/Shannon and UG, with the UL/Shannon composite managing to gradually pull marginally clear of the Galway girls, finishing half a length to the good at the line. They don’t come any bigger than senior 8s titles, so congratulations to Laura, who was in the 3 seat.

In the men’s and women’s J16 and J18 1x championships, there were enormous fields competing, amounting to about 60 crews in each category. These events are run on a time trial basis and Benjamin Wall and Anna Kiely won their heats well. However, unless you put in a top six time out of 60 you don’t progress to the final.

Several of the Clonmel rowers put in great performances to come second and third in their heats but missed out on qualification by small margins.

The men’s j18 4x of Cian Mellerick, Rory Keeley, Sam Fleming and Brian Hurley were one of the lucky ones to come through qualification and get into the final. They were well beaten in the final but three of the crew are still eligible for this category next year, so here’s hoping.

In the 2x Siofra O’Loughlin and Anna Kiely were fourth in the heat, as were Sam Fleming and Cian Mellerick.

Brian Hurley and Rory Keeley actually won their heat but it’s the same old story of not making it into the top six for qualification for the final.

Kate Meehan was in action in the 1x, where she placed eighth overall in the club 1x and twelfth overall in the J18 1x.

The men’s j16 4x+ of Oisin Walsh, Keelan Hogan, Darren Kane and Darragh Noonan, with Ciaran Hickey coxing, gave a strong performance, finishing seventh overall out of 25.

The coxless pair of James Hurley and Gerald Nugent were in the hottest of the four heats. They were always in contact with the leading boats, eventually finishing fourth.

On Sunday they went in the Intermediate 2x and were third in their heat in a fast time. But with only the first two places qualifying for the final, that was the end of their regatta.

Donnacha Keeley did make it to the finals of the Intermediate 1x and 2x, where he faced off against heavyweight crews. It’s a tall order to compete against the heavyweights, but Donnacha put in a magnificent effort to claim third spot in the 1x and 2x with his UG partner.

As the curtain comes down on the 2024 rowing championships, performances will be reviewed and plans will be hatched for 2025.

The Clonmel Rowing Club crews had great support from coaches and parents and this year a new benchmark was set when Ciara Kiely, Ciara Meehan and Alison Walsh took on the task of catering for the hungry rowers with a splendid array of dishes in the crew tent.

This Saturday the Cappoquin Regatta will be held, and where the emphasis is on fun and craic as opposed to the high intensity of the last few months.

D-Day is fast approaching for Daire Lynch and Philip Doyle in Paris. They will be in action in the first round on Saturday week, July 27, at 10.30am. So clear a space in your schedules to cheer on our boy in the boat.