Rowers shine at Rowing Ireland 1k Classic

The Irish rowing 1K classic rowing championships were held on Lough Rynn in Co. Leitrim last Saturday.

This international standard rowing course run by Leitrim County Council provided serious racing for U15 crews from Enniskillen Royal Boat Club (ERBC).

There were entries from as far away as Skibbereen, Waterford, Cork, Killarney, Galway, Limerick, Dublin, Coleraine, Clonmel, Carrick-on-Shannon and Belfast so it was truly a test for the Erne rowers.

There were so many entries that each race had to be a final as there was not enough time to race heats. In a six-boat race, the ERBC girls J15 quad A crew of Rachael Cathcart [cox], Isabella Wright, Emily Black, Tori Davis and Brooke Davis beat Lee Valley and Waterford into second and third place.

The B crew of Carly Latimer [cox], Darcy Balfour, Grace Collins, Abbie Magwood and Aoibhin Campbell beat Shandon and Skibbereen.

WJ15 8+ Tori Davis, Isabella Wright, Emily Black, Abbie McCarthy Magwood, Rachel Cathcart (cox) Darcy Balfour, Grace Collins, Amy Williamson, Brooke Davis. (Image: ERBC)

Cillian Donaghy, in a hotly contested J15 single sculling race, defeated Bann and Shandon into second and third place and Isabella Wright beat the same clubs in her J15 sculling event.  Both athletes produced masterful sculling in the blustery conditions.

The girls J15 eight had a two-boat straight final with St. Ignatius College Galway and won convincingly with Tori Davis, Isabella Wright, Emily Black, Abbie Magwood, Darcy Balfour, Grace Collins, Amy Williamson, Brooke Davis and cox Rachael Cathcart on board.

In the girls' J15 octuple competed in a strong field and came out in first place beating Skibbereen and Galway into second and third place. Isabella Wright, Emily Black, Tori and Brooke Davis, Darcy Balfour, Grace Collins, Aoibhinn Campbell, Amy Williamson and cox Rachel Cathcart are all on board.

Isabella Wright - WJ15 1X. (Image: ERBC)

This was Wright's fourth victory.  Towards the end of the day, the boys won the J14 and J15 quad events.

Errie Powell coxed Oliver Jennings, James Mc Aleer, Joe Crean and Harry Welsh to a pulsating win over four other crews the pick of whom were Skibbereen and Castleconnell.

The J15 boys of Cillian Donaghy, Joshua Inhat, Matthew Montgomery, Ollie Powell and cox Errie Powell were solid winners over nearest rivals St. Michael's, Limerick and Athlone.

MJ15 1X Cillian Donaghy. (Image: ERBC)

There were numerous close second places most noteworthy being the boys J15 eight who nearly caught Skibbereen on the line after a thrilling race into a stiff breeze at the end of the day.

The show moves on now to the Senior Rowing Championships in Cork in mid-July.

WJ15 4X+ Abbie McCarthy Magwood, Aoibhin Campbell, Carly Latimer (cox) Grace Collins, Darcy Balfour. (Image: ERBC)