Loughros Point Rowing Club 2022 Season
Winter Training
Over the winter months the club continued to train in the community centre on the rowing machines and also travelled to sligo once a month to compete in a 3k head of river to gain experience.
02/04/22 – Courtmacsherry Regatta
First event we entered was in April where we headed to Courtmacsherry in Co.Cork for the first offshore event of the season. The club done absolutely fantastic that day with 4 athletes competing and took home a 3rd place in the mens double.
Easter Camp
The club hosted a camp at the lake for one week during Easter. This was a great success with some local traditional clubs joining us to get a feel for coastal and flatwater rowing.
07/05/22 – Rosscarberry Beach Sprints Regatta
At the beginning of May we headed to the Beach Sprint Qualifiers in Cork. 9 crews from our club competed and they all done absolutely fantastic for their first beach sprint event and Michael O’Boyle qualified for the European Beach Sprint Championships in the junior mens category and Cian Sweeney qualified in the mixed quad . Our junior girls ranked 3rd,4th and 5th which was a fantastic achievement. We also had a mixed junior double crew who ranked 2nd at the event
11/06/22
We entered Lough Rynn Regatta but unfortunately this was cancelled due to weather conditions.
18/06/22 – Athlone Regatta
Few weeks later the club headed to their first flatwater event of the year. With four boats and three superstar athletes, Loughros Point headed to Athlone bright and early in the morning.
We arrived home with one Gold, 2 Silver and a Bronze from this event.
This was the first river regatta for all three athletes and they managed to come away with some fantastic results. So fantastic that the regatta committee itself commented on it.
02/07/22 – Ranking Regatta – Narin Portnoo
The club hosted the Qualifying Ranking Regatta at Narin Beach. This regatta was a qualifier for the World and Euorpean Championships. Clubs from all over the country made the long journey to our event and stayed for the weekend to compete to seek ranking for the Worlds and Euorpeans. 7 crews qualified from our club and we had the most enjoyable weekend and it was a great success.
10/07/22 – Trip to Roan Inish
17/07/22 – 18k round trip to Arranmore
23/07/22 – Kenmare Regatta
Next up a group of 26 of us headed off for a long trip down the road again to Kenmare
Our juniors were awesome , preformed exceptional with most of them racing for the first time at a offshore event. We came home with 1 Gold, 1 Silver and 2 Bronze that weekend.
31/07/22 – Carrick-on-Shannon Sprints Regatta
We then headed to Carrick On Shannon for another big day at the sprints regatta. 19 crews entered from 9am till 6pm with the sun splitting the rocks …. everyone done amazing
we came home with 6 Gold, 5 silver and 5 bronze
For most of our youth this was their first flatwater experience and we have to say they all done us very proud.
27/08/22 – Bantry Regatta
About a month later again we headed back down the road to Bantry Offshore Regatta
19 crew entered as this was the last offshore regatta for the season for our junior rowers.
We headed home that weekend with 1 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze.
All in all the club had wonderful day and everyone did themselves and the club proud, we would like to end in thanking the parents for travelling up and down the country taking their kids to all the regattas and supporting, helping and following us every step of the way.
10/09/22 – Irish Offshore Rowing Championship
We traveled to Wicklow to take part in the Irish Offshore Rowing Championships. We traveled with 7 athletes and competed in 8 out of the 9 categories.
Cian and Patrick kicked of the weekend with their heats in the Men’s single. Rowing a great race and coming third in there respective heats progressed them onto the final. Later in the day they headed back out where Patrick came 5th and Cian coming in 10th in a 14 boat final. A fantastic achievement for both boys.
Caitlin was out next in the Women’s Double sculls where she was partnered with Mairéad from City of Derry Rowing Club. The girls rowed a fantastic race together.
To finish of day one we got our first medal with Patrick in the mixed double with Monika Dukarska from Killorglin Rowing Club where they picked up the gold medal with clear water between them and the next crew.
On day two it brought difficult water conditions but all athletes handled it excellently to come home with a collection of medals.
First out was the Junior Men’s Quad where we teamed up with Kincasslagh with a young composite crew of Paul McGonagle steering Dara, Eoin, Xander and Shaun, these young lads done extremely well for their first championship event together. Second Juniur Men’s Quad entered was a composite crew which consisted of Amy steering, Michael, Finlay from Kincasslagh, Rohan from Sligo Rowing Club and Zach from Athlone Rowing club. The boys lead from the start and went on to claim the gold medal.
Michael then headed back out 15 minutes later again in the next race where he and Cian rowed in the Men’s Doubles. With conditions getting worse this didn’t phase them and flew past 5 boats and the boys finished in Bronze position which is a huge accomplishment in itself. What makes it even more impressive is that the top two crews were international entries making the boys the top Irish double at just 17 and 18 years of age.
It was then the girls turn in the Junior Women’s Quad where Amy, Leah and Aoibhe were joined by Kate from Ring and Grace from Rosscarbery. These girls put in an impressive row having a very bad start pulling up on the rest of the field to take home a bronze medal.
Leah, Aoibhe and Amy then went back out again 15 minutes later joined by Mairead and Caitlin in the Women’s Quad. After another bad start the girls made an impressive comeback passing several boats on their journey to take 5th place.
The final race of the day brought more medals in the Men’s Quad. This quad consisted of Amy, Cian, Michael, Zach (Athlone) and Rohan (Sligo). This is a very young crew ( average age of 17) and they put in an incredible performance in a race that saw a lot of position swapping but the boys dug deep in extremely bad conditions and made up a lot of ground in the last two turns to take home bronze.
Overall the club came home with 2 gold and 3 bronze making it the most successful Offshore Championship the club has ever competed in.
6-10/10/22 – World Rowing Coastal Championships
The club set off very early on Thursday Morning for a very exciting adventure. Several hours later we had landed at the World Rowing Coastal Championship in Saundersfoot Wales. This was the first International competition for many of our athletes and was an amazing experience for all involved.
The first crew to hit the water was the mens double consisting of Cian and Michael. The boys rowed a superb race to progress onto the B final coming 9th in their heat. The boys then went out on Saturday to race there final where they put in a fantastic performance coming second. This was a outstanding result for this young crew and is definitely not the last you’ll hear about this duo.
On Friday was also the heats of the Women’s Quad where Aoibhe, Leah, Caitlin and Mairead was steered around the course by Cian to progress onto the B final. On Saturday the girls then headed out to race their final putting in a great performance to come third.
The heats for the ladies doubles also took place Saturday where our club had not one but two entries. Leah and Aoibhe teamed up to form one crew whilst the other boat consisted of Caitlin and Mairead Nic Bhloscaidh from City of Derry. Both crews raced excellent races progressing to the B final which took place on the Sunday.
The ladies double B final was the first race on Sunday morning and the girls rowed the full 4k course before the organising committee decided to shorten the course due to unsafe conditions for the rest of the B finals. These girls did the club extremely proud to be able to go out and handle these incredibly difficult conditions to come home with a 5th (Caitlin and Mairead) and 6th (Leah and Aoibhe) place finishing.
The heats of the mens quad took place on Saturday with Cian, Michael and Martin O’Boyle being joined by James Boomer from Olderfleet and Paul McGonagle from Kincasslagh. They rowed a great race to progress to the B final which took place on the Sunday morning. The boys battled tough conditions in the final on the new shorter course and ended up in a battle to the finish line with a German crew. It ended up in a photo finish where our boys beat the Germans by 0.08 seconds for a second-place standing.
Patrick raced in both the mixed double and men’s single. In an unlucky draw Patrick had to race the heats of both events back to back sprinting across the beach after the double in order to make the start of the single. The gruelling task of racing 8k didn’t seem to affect him as he placed second in the mixed doble and fifth in the men’s single progressing to the A final in both events.
Sunday was then the finals for both events. Up first was the single where Patrick rowed an incredible race against some of the best athletes in the world. Then an hour later he jumped in the double along with Monika from Killorglin RC. After an excellent start the duo was able to stay amongst the top crews. After a challenging 4k course it came down to a photo finish where Patrick and Monika were awarded the bronze medal position.
This is Patricks first International medal and something he has worked extremely hard for over the years. It is great to finally see him accomplish this goal and to have achieved it at the world championship was extra special.
None of these results would have ever been possible if it wasn’t for the support all the athletes received. A big thank you especially to our boat handlers JD, Martin, Shaun, Cathal and Amy. Also to Teresa , Katie and Eva who travelled to support us, Annette who ensured all the athletes were fuelled for the weekend of racing and to everyone who made donations to help us cover the cost of travelling to the event.
13-15/10/22 – World Rowing Beach Sprints
Few days after we all returned home Cian went back to Wales to take part in the World Rowing Beach Sprint Championship to steer the Mixed Quad crew representing Ireland , this fantastic crew made it to the quarterfinals but unfortunately were beaten by France. Well done to Cian and his teammates Noel, Kealan, Niamh, Dineka.
27-29/10/22 – European Rowing Coastal Championships
Loughros Point Rowing Club finished off a very successful season for the club by sending four athletes out to the European rowing coastal and beach sprints championship. Michael (17), Cian (18), Caitlin(19) and Patrick (28) headed out to San Sebastián in Spain to race in multiple categories.
Cian and Michael raced the men’s double in the club championship. Unfortunately a broken oar due to a collision with another boat saw their race end before the first turn.
Cian then went out to race the men’s single in the club championship where he qualified for the A final. In the final Cian was finished 9th in the final but due to an unfortunate time penalty he ended in 17th position.
Caitlin and her double partner Mairead from City of Derry then went out in the womens double club championship final and rowed a respectable race leaving them in 16th place.
Patrick Boomer raced the men’s single and mixed double in the national championship. In his single he had a great race resulting in an eighth place finishing. In the doubles race Patrick and his double partner Miriam led for the majority of the race but unfortunately a collision with a British team led to disappointment as one of their oars broke. The pair pushed through to finish the race but with only one person rowing they dropped down to 10th place.
The final race of the weekend was for Michael who raced in the junior men’s single representing Ireland in the Beach sprints championship. Michael rowed a great time trial placing fourth place qualifying for the quarter finals where he was unfortunately knocked out by the British athlete.
The club now is in the communtiy centre at the winter training until March time where we hope to get back on the water again.
We are always taking on new members so if anybody would like to give it a go please just contact the club via facebook .
We would like to finish by thanking the community and local businessess for their support each year, without it none of this would be possible.
