NUIG rowers continue to pose a serious challenge in Irish rowing, capturing many of the more prestigious pennants at the Tribesmen/Rowing Ireland National Head of the River on Saturday.
Both mens and women’s senior eight and four titles were annexed by the college, albeit the women were in composite with neighbours and host club Tribesmen.
Some 200 crews took to the water – many competing for one of Rowing Ireland’s inaugural national head titles.
Wins were posted by NUIG, Tribesmen, Carrick-on-Shannon, St Joseph’s, Colaiste Iognaid, Athlone, and Galway. Notable amongst the visitors was the re-emergence of Neptune after some quiet seasons, and the strength of many of the Cork/Kerry clubs among the younger age groups.
NUIG’s closest competition came from neighbours Galway, but, backboned by seasoned Olympians Alan Martin and Cormac Folan, they posted a 30-second winning margin in the four and eight. The NUIG/Tribesmen four also had a good margin over Commercial, but the eight had a mere second to spare over the Dubliners.
St Joseph’s again proved they are the bellweather of men’s junior rowing, posting a time within one minute of NUIG in the four for a fifth overall position, and within 45 sec on the eight – fourth overall. Those suggesting Bann are a shoo-in for the junior championships this summer will surely have food for thought.
The results in the sculling/pairs race were notable in that both mens and women’s senior scullers were fastest of both sculls and pairs. Liam Molloy (NUIG ) and Siobhan McCrohan (Tribesmen ) are both lightweights.
A Castleconnell adaptive eight, crewed by rowers with disabilities, made a first-time appearance and raced over the course, wile 1970s Olympian and three-times Diamond sculls winner Sean Drea made a rare appearance in the single and sculled over the course.
