Carrick Rowing Club Excels at Galway Regatta – Page 1 of 6

The Menlo Straights were the final venue for competition for Carrick at Shannon Rowing Club this Bank Holiday weekend. This three lane 700m course on the Corrib presented quite a challenge as clubs from across Ireland gathered to stage this famous regatta in 2022.

The Carrick women started the day with some Junior 14 double sculls action. The girls who started from Carrick at 5.30am did not manage to be on the pole boats by 8.15am, this is not an easy task and it is a credit to all involved including Club Captain John Lowe who faithfully transports and transports our boats provided.

Then our juniors went to the water in the J15 singles. Bri Murphy delivered the first win of the day with a fine series against Athlone Boat Club. Notable performances also came from Carrick’s Nandor Stefcsik and Tadgh Duignan.

The J15 Quads 4x+ competition came shortly after with a Carrick combo of Donal Keane, Fionnan Feeley, Cormac McKiernan and Alfie Walsh riding through the course to claim victory. A special mention goes to helmsman Hannah McKeon from Drumshanbo, who navigated the stiff breezes and choppy waters that made all the difference for Carrick.

Veteran sculler Leah McLoughlin maintained that winning habit for Carrick as she rode to victory by a wide margin over two local Galway Rowing Club crews in the J16 Sculler competition. This was one of the performances of the day as this skull sliced ​​through tough conditions and opponents very familiar with the course to victory by distance.

Another Carrick win followed against local crews, this time Colaiste Iognaid, as our men’s J14 crew set the pace and brought home more crossed rudder pennants.

Deteriorating conditions in the afternoon made for even more testing conditions, with Carrick Junior women working hard and performing well without silverware. These evolving teams, under the tutelage and watchful eye of coach Gabor Stefcsik, will have some very good experiences from that day onwards which they can use in their training for future competitions.

Winning ways returned for Carrick in the Mens J14 Double as an exciting new combination of Donal Keane and Mark Tansey proved the winners against clubmates Fionn O’Leary and Ruben McCrann and locals St Josephs Bish Rowing Club. These Roscommon men rowed with power, speed and style in a thrilling finale.

The final win of the day came for a seasonal duo of Bri Murphy and Cuileann O’Donaile in the Mens J15 Double. These men rowed with a tenacity and a confidence beyond their years to bring down the curtain on a six-win performance for the club.

As always, thank you to our Travel Coaches John, Gabor and Mick for traveling with our young protégés to provide guidance, support and race direction.

Next weekend will bring a local focus as the club compete in the Lough Rinn Regatta. This will be a real achievement for the whole club as the Mohill venue hosts the best Irish racing in a Grand League regatta.

Carrick RC will provide volunteers and officials at all levels from stewarding, umpires and judges to meal preparation, catering and coordination led by our President Gabriel Cox, Club Vice Captain Orna Gilhooley and Chief Judge Mark Butler.

Even veteran activists like Aoife Lowe are getting back into action after a short break after the Metro Regatta.

However, some club rowers will be taking a break next weekend as the Leaving Certificate and Junior Certificate affect attendance. We wish all our members taking exams the best of luck in the coming weeks.

We look forward to welcoming spectators and friends of the club to Lough Rinn next weekend to see some high quality racing and the venue for Leitrims International. See you there!