Galway rowers produced some great performances at the Irish Rowing Championships iin Cork last weekend.
The highlights were gold medal winning performances from Colaiste Iognaid's girls J16 and J15 eights and two silver medals in the J16 scull events, while NUIG enjoyed a successful weekend taking the Men’s Intermediate Coxed Fours and Men’s Senior Fours titles. Tribesmen's Siobhan McCrohan was the silver medal winner in the Women’s Senior Single Sculls, Galway Rowing Club finished third in the Women’s Junior Fours, and the Jes also grabbed two silver medals in the J16 scull events.
The Jes girls' J16 eight, having enjoyed a tremendous season, were unbeaten in all eight regattas in which they had competed before the nationals. That domination continued in Cork where they took the victory, although they had to fight off a spirited performance by a strong Portora crew. Not to be outdone, the younger J15 crew were also on the winners' podium. Anchored by three girls from the J16 crew, they put in a commanding performance for a comfortable win. The winning crew was Ellen Forde, Anna Coyne, Katie Ryan, Roisin Gavin, Ruth Griffin, Elise-Carney Frazier, Ruby Murphy, Isabelle Gannon and Holly McHugh (cox ).
In the girls' J16 single scull, Caoileann NicDhonncha was just edged into second place in the last 100m - her performance earning her selection for Ireland in the Home Internationals next weekend. The boys' J16 scull also brought success for the Jes with Mark Ryder taking home a silver medal with a highly impressive performance in the final. The J16 scull events were among the most demanding at the regatta with a large number of entrants and the rowers have to battle through three races over a few hours.
