NEWSLETTER

VOLUME 2 ISSUE 5

OCTOBER 2014

2

ROWING IRELAND NEWLETTER

CONTENTS

The Rowing Ireland Newsletter is an official publication of Rowing Ireland.

The views expressed by the contributors within this publication are not

necessarily the views of Rowing Ireland.

Copyright © 2014

All rights reserved.

All feedback and contributions are welcome, please contact:

info@rowingireland.ie

3 CEO Message

4 High Performance

6 Rio 2016

7 Safety

8 2014 Season

9 Umpires Exams

17 2014 Calendar

23 Around the Country

36 Spotlight on…Clubs

38 Spotlight on…Rowers

41 Spotlight on…Coaches

42 Spotlight on…RI Staff

43 Nutrition

48 Get Going...Get Rowing

50 Rowing for Everyone

56 Twitter Photos

57 Sponsors

Photo on front cover: Andrew Goff, who was part of the winning

MJ4x crew that won gold at the Coupe de la Jeunesse this year,

training at Waterford Boat Club in September.

2

CEO MESSAGE

3

Hamish Adams

CEO

Rowing Ireland

I am delighted to

introduce the latest copy

of the Rowing Ireland E-

Zine. This version

updates us on the

excellence we have all

achieved in 2014 from

the Irish Championships

to the World

Championships. Once

again the year has flown

by at high speed and as I

write this article crews

are preparing for the new

season’s High

Performance trials at the

NRC.

I would like to personally

congratulate our HP team

of Morten, Don, Mary,

John and Pat for their

outstanding development

and contribution to all our

HP athletes. Their work

has been reflected in the

greater quality and

quantity of athletes

involved. Of course this

success could not have

been achieved without

the huge voluntary

contribution of the many

coaches, administrators

and families supporting

our athletes in the

background.

We continue to strive to

improve all areas of our

business and this edition

includes informative

articles on our domestic

and international

competitions, coaching,

and club development.

The recent “Better

Coaching, Better Clubs”

Conference held in Dublin

was very well attended

and the feedback from

you on the day was

excellent, with

approximately 80 people

attending. We look

forward to seeing you all

again in two years time at

our 2016 conference and

we will be facilitating

provincial workshops in

2015 with world class

presenters as we did in

2013 with Peter

Shakespear.

I look forward to meeting

you all in our provincial

forums over the coming

weeks.

Hamish

HIGH PERFORMANCE

4

HIG

H P

ERFO

RM

AN

CE

Lightweight Men’s Camp

The lightweight men’s camp

was conducted on the 27th-

28th September at the

NRC. Twenty-six athletes

participated at the camp

and there were four coxed

fours and five doubles

training. On Saturday,

different combinations were

tried, while on Sunday,

three 2k tests were

conducted, again in

different combinations, to

look at strengths and

weaknesses in boat moving.

In U23 and senior ranks,

there are good prospects

for making international

crews and a schedule will

be made in order to get

crews together. Five

volunteer coaches attended

and Mick’s kitchen provided

lunches.

NRC

The World Championships

competitor group are back

in training at the NRC and

the group also contains

development athletes who

are training full-time. The

weather has been excellent

and has enabled a lot of

training on the water.

However the water level is

low and that causes some

problems, particularly at

the launch area, as well as

going up to the start. After

the theft of some of the

engines, additional cameras

and security have been set

up and launches/engines

are being taken off of the

water after each session.

Denis O’Regan is in charge

of the NRC accommodation

and €5 has to be paid to

avail of this facility.

Overnight accommodation

is only allowed for a short

period of time and has to

be booked in advance.

Maintenance and

refurbishment of changing

rooms etc, bays with more

trestles, and marking

equipment is ongoing.

Around the Country

In Galway the season has

started to build the new,

and sharpen the

experienced athletes. In

Limerick/Dublin the men’s

sculling group work has

found its feet and is

improving. In Cork/

Skibbereen athletes have

been training regularly. The

Belfast Talent Programme

has been reviewed and the

equipment evaluated. New

and experienced athletes

are on the move.

Physiotherapy

The Irish Institute of Sport

has set up service provision

at the NRC where Sinead

Murphy, physiotherapist,

will be in charge to help the

carded athletes.

A few athletes from other

sports on the IIS list in the

Cork area will be able to

avail of the service. The IIS

has issued an increased

service provision schedule

and hopefully funding will

be allocated towards this.

Para Rowing

The Para Rowing document

from the Ulster Branch has

been attached to the HP

section of the Rowing

Ireland website for those

interested. The capital

grant resource will be used

to purchase a safety

catamaran for camp and

training weekends as well

as two new boats for

ASM1x and TAmix2x and

oars.

Conferences

The Olympic Council of

Ireland conducted seminars

on the 9th-10th October for

all Olympic sports at

Malahide, for coaches and

performance directors/team

managers. Five people from

Rowing Ireland participated.

The Rowing Ireland

conference “Better

Coaching, Better Clubs”

was well attended with 80

coaches and club leaders,

and RI staff. An extensive

programme was presented

on the day. The evaluation

papers will illustrate any

improvements which should

be made.

Focus

The focus for the next ten

months will be getting

crews ready for Olympic

and Paralympic

qualification. Crews will be

formed early and training

schedules set up to get

the most effort and

preparation for August

2015. Depending on

funding, the target will be

longer camps and an early

international regatta in

Piediluco/Italy, European

Championships in Poznan/

Poland, World Cup 3 in

Lucerne/Switzerland and

finally the World

Championships in

Aiguebelette/France. Para

Rowing will have a different

plan, but also finishing at

the World Championships.

The U23 World Rowing

Championships will be in

Plovdiv/Bulgaria in July.

The juniors will have their

final trial in March and

crews will prepare for

European Championships in

Prague/CZE and the Coupe

in August in Szeged/

Hungary. Time will tell if

the juniors will go to Brazil

for the Junior World Rowing

Championships after

evaluation of the Junior

European Championships in

May. Pat McInerney will

schedule the next steps and

dates for the juniors.

5

Important Dates:

22nd Nov—2k concept2 compulsory

race at Irish Provinces IRC in UL

(or in a club supervised by a coach,

or at Ulster Indoors on 29th Nov)

20th-21st Dec—Assessment by

invitation for U23/Seniors at NRC

24th Jan—2k Concept2 compulsory

race at IIRC in UL

By: Morten Espersen, High Performance

Director, Rowing Ireland

OLYMPIC GAMES 2016

6

RIO

20

16

BO

AT

CLA

SS

CR

EWS

SAT

6T

H

AU

G

SUN

7T

H

AU

G

MO

N 8

TH

AU

G

TUES

9T

H

AU

G

WED

10

TH

AU

G

THU

RS

11

TH A

UG

FRI 1

2T

H

AU

G

SUN

14

TH

AU

G

SAT

13

TH

AU

G

M4

x 1

0

2 H

eats

1 R

ep

Fi

nal

s A

&B

W4

x 7

2

Hea

ts

1

Rep

Fin

al A

M2

- 1

3

3 H

eats

1

Rep

2 S

emis

A/B

Fin

als

A&

B

W2

x 1

3

3 H

eats

1

Rep

2 S

emis

A/B

Fin

als

A&

B

M2

x 1

3

3 H

eats

1

Rep

2 S

emis

A/B

Fin

als

A&

B

LM4

- 1

3

3 H

eats

1

Rep

2 S

emis

A/B

Fin

als

A&

B

LW2

x 2

0

4

Hea

ts

2 R

eps

(2 S

em

is C

/

D)

2 S

emis

A/B

Fi

nal

s C

&D

Fi

nal

s A

&B

LM2

x 2

0

4

Hea

ts

2 R

eps

(2 S

em

is C

/

D)

2 S

emis

A/B

Fi

nal

s C

&D

Fi

nal

s A

&B

W2

- 1

5

3

Hea

ts

1 R

ep

2

Sem

is A

/B

Fin

al C

Fi

nal

s A

&B

M4

- 1

3

3

Hea

ts

1 R

ep

2

Sem

is A

/B

Fi

nal

s A

&B

W8

+

7

2 H

eats

1 R

ep

Fin

al A

M1

x 3

2

6 H

eats

3

Rep

s (2

se

mis

E/

F)

4 Q

uar

ters

(2

se

mis

C/

D)

2 S

emis

A/B

Fi

nal

s E&

F Fi

nal

s A

, B,

C, D

W1

x 3

2

6 H

eats

3

Rep

s (2

se

mis

E/

F)

4 Q

uar

ters

(2

se

mis

C/

D)

2 S

emis

A/B

Fi

nal

s E&

F Fi

nal

s A

, B,

C, D

M8

+

7

2 H

eats

1 R

ep

Fin

al A

Rac

es

2

8 r

ace

s 2

4 r

ace

s 1

6 r

ace

s 2

0 r

ace

s 1

7 r

ace

s 1

7 r

ace

s 1

2 r

ace

s 1

0 r

ace

s

RESERVE DAY

Rio 2016 Provisional Olympic Regatta Racing Programme

7

LIFE-JACKETS

ANYONE? WHY

EVER NOT? By Joe Cantillon, Chairperson, Safety Committee

SAFETY

It's pretty simple really -

You'd be daft not to wear a Personal Flotation Device in

a launch. Of course rowers of all shapes, sizes and ages don't wear them, it is

part of our sport and is regularly debated but that's

where you come in - the safety launch. Your club might call it the coach’s

launch but it serves a vital safety role in getting to a

rower that capsizes or runs into difficulty. In fact, if you think about it, usually the

most likely time for a fully-clothed, boot-wearing adult

to fall overboard from a small craft while out

coaching rowing is when they are hunched over the side trying to get a rower

into the hard-shell of their launch. Are you always

accompanied? What happens if you or another coach falls overboard

without a life-jacket or PFD - who saves you? Even so,

could the other person in the launch handle two people in the drink? Too

many variables - wear a life

-jacket.

Statistically, the wearing of PFDs is on the wane. Whether less aware or less

clued-in, people are leaving them on the shore. The

Irish Water council note on their website that since

2008, life threatening and

drowning incidents without life-jackets being worn are

on the rise. Irish rowing is surging forward with clubs noting record interest and

recruitment; coaching has never been as well

coordinated as through the recent initiatives by Pat McInerney and the Rowing

Ireland Coaching development program.

Strength & Conditioning for rowing is leaner and more knowledgeable with

international assistance and World Wide Web knowledge

sharing. Oars and boats are designed by NASA. Coaches

and oarsmen alike can apply a wealth of support to any and every spin. Don't

forget the simple stuff - wear a functioning Life-

Jacket.

Remember there are many different types of PFD

available. Some are discrete and even integrate

into your water-proofs. However they don't have to cost the earth. A manual or

tablet gas cartridge version is in the region of €50 -

Your monthly SKY subscription probably costs more. Most clubs will have

a policy requiring their use and PFDs available, so next

time throw one over your shoulders and buckle up.

Take a look around and

consider that you wearing a lump of foam might just

save your life or that your example might prompt another coach or boat-user

to save their own skin by following your lead and

wearing one as well. The easiest thing to do is store the club life-jackets in the

boat they will be used in. If you have a personal PFD,

regularly ensure that it functions especially if you have loaned it out - gas

cartridges don't appear any different when empty and

young coxes don't always admit to inflating them in

case you lose the rag. RTFM - read the instructions, they are usually printed on the

mechanism. Finally a smaller 40N life jacket

won't provide much lift to a coach that likes their dinners; make sure your

jacket is designed for your

weight. Go Google it.

Rowing Ireland has a safety committee that is there to assist you with any of your

queries. Drop us a line if you have any questions or

wish to see other areas of interest discussed. Email

info@rowingireland.ie

8

T he 2014 European

Rowing Championships

were held in Belgrade in

Serbia from the 30th May to

the 1st June. Sanita

Puspure (Old Collegians

BC) represented Ireland in

the women’s single sculls

event. After coming 2nd in

her heat, and winning her

repechage, she booked a

place in the semi-finals.

She went on to finish 2nd in

this race and in doing so,

made her way into the A

Final.

Sanita produced a strong

race in the final, and as

seen in the photo above,

just missed out on 2nd

place. In a time of

7:43.040 she finished 3rd.

The Women’s Pair crew of

Leonora Kennedy and Lisa

Dilleen came 2nd in their

heat, won their repechage

and finished in 4th position

in the A Final in a time of

7:12.420.

Monika Dukarska and

Eimear Moran took part in

the Women’s Double Sculls

race. They finished in 4th

position in the B Final, in a

time of 7:13.390, coming

10th overall.

Skibbereen rower Paul

O’Donovan took to the

water in the Lightweight

Men’s Single Sculls race

and finished 2nd in the C

Final.

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS 20

14

SEA

SON

(L-R) Chantal Achterberg (NED), Mirka

Knapkova (CZE), Sanita Puspure (Ire)

(L-R) Morten Espersen, Sanita Puspure &

Don McLachlan at the presentation of the

bronze medal picture to Sanita at the NRC

9

WORLD CUP II E very year there are three World Cup Regattas.

While no Irish rower travelled to the first round, the second round was well

attended. Aiguebelette in France was the venue from

the 19th to the 22nd June.

Sanita Puspure rowed in the Women’s Single Sculls race

and after booking a place in the A Final, she finished in

6th position, behind New Zealand, China, Austria, Czech Republic and USA, in

a time of 7:54.840.

Claire Lambe (Old

Collegians BC) and Denise

Walsh (Skibbereen RC) formed the Irish crew for

the Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls and came in 5th position in the B Final in

a time of 7:16.710,

finishing 11th overall.

The Women’s Pair team of Leonora Kennedy (Portora RC) and Lisa Dilleen

(Grainne Mhaol RC) finished 3rd in the B Final in a time

of 7:16.530.

Monika Dukarska (Killorglin RC) and Eimear Moran took

to the water in the Women’s Double Sculls

event, finishing 2nd in the C

Final.

Thomas Kelly came 4th in

the AS Men’s Single Sculls B Final, finishing the 1000m

course in 5:42.410.

Paul O’Donovan (UCD BC) won the B Final of the

Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls race, while Mark O’Donovan (University of

Limerick RC) won the C

Final.

John Keohane (Lee Valley RC) came 2nd in the D Final of the Men’s Single Sculls in

a time of 7:16.480.

WORLD CUP III From the 11th-13th July,

one Irish rower travelled to Lucerne in Switzerland

for the third round of the

World Rowing Cup. In the Women’s Single Sculls

event, Sanita Puspure

won the B Final in a time

of 7:51.380.

UMPIRES EXAMS At every Rowing Ireland

regatta you will see umpires. These are needed

to ensure that the competitors have a fair, but more importantly, safe

race. Without a large number of these volunteers

it would not be possible for most events on the Rowing Ireland calendar to take

place.

Each year the Umpires

Committee hold exams for new umpires throughout the country. The locations

are based on demand. If there are a half dozen or

more candidates in a particular location the

Committee will generally hold an exam. As the

concept of an umpires

exam can be daunting for new candidates, the

Umpires Committee are in the process of putting in place two trainers in each

province. These will provide training to candidates in

advance so they are prepared for the exams. The next set of exams will

take place in early 2015. Details of the exams and

training sessions will be posted on the Rowing Ireland website in the next

month or so.

As part of the exam, there

is a seminar for candidates and any renewing umpires.

The Umpires Committee would like to advise that

this free seminar is open to

all coaches or other interested parties who

would like to attend without

having to take the exam.

Further details of the

Rowing Ireland Umpires Exams may be found here:

http://www.rowingireland.ie/umpires/

If you have any queries

please contact umpires@rowingireland.ie

Kieran Kerr

Chair – Umpires

Committee

IRISH CHAMPIONSHIPS

10

20

14

SEA

SON

F riday 11th July was

the first day of the Irish

Rowing Championships

which were held at the

National Rowing Centre,

Cork.

At 11am Mr Bernard Allen,

former TD for Cork North

Central and former

Minister of State at the

Department of Education

and the Environment, with

special responsibility for

Youth and Sport unveiled

a plaque dedicated to Mr.

Michael O’Callaghan (Lee

Valley Rowing Club) for

his work and dedication in

the building and

establishment of the

National Rowing Centre.

Perfect conditions awaited

the rowers and racing got

underway at 11.45am

with lots of exciting races

scheduled for the first

day. In the Men’s Senior

Coxless Four, a two boat

race between Grainne

Mhaol (Galway) and Old

Collegians (UCD), was a

tight race until the last

500m with Grainne Mhaol

ramping it up to win by

just over a length.

In the Men’s Intermediate

Coxed Four, Carlow

Rowing Club led up until

the 1700m with NUIG

putting in a push in the

last 300m to come home

with a win by a length.

IRISH CHAMPIONSHIPS

NUIG/Grainne Mhaol, winners of

the Men’s Senior Eight

11

T he Men’s Club Eight

from UCD led all the way to

a convincing finish with a

two length advantage over

Skibbereen. In the coveted

Men’s Junior Scull, David

O’Malley (St Michaels RC)

beat fellow city man Conor

Carmody of Shannon by

two lengths.

This was followed by the

Men’s Junior Coxed Eight

where Portora (Enniskillen)

had another tight race with

St. Joseph’s, who were

chasing their third

championship in a row.

Portora came through in the

end to beat St. Joseph’s by

over a length.

The final two races of the

day concluded with the

Men’s Lightweight Single

Scull where Justin Ryan

from UCC beat Skibbereen’s

Harnedy by five seconds.

The days racing finished at

16.45 with the Women’s

Intermediate Eight. In a

terrific race with a neck and

neck competition

throughout the full 2000m,

UCD came home to beat

NUIG in the final stages by

less than .60 of a second.

12

20

14

SEA

SON

IRISH CHAMPIONSHIPS

CONT.

D ay two was another

successful and exciting day

at the Irish Rowing

Championships. The day

started at 8.30am with

heats. The first final of the

day was at 11.30am with

the Men’s Senior Pair. UCD

came home to win ahead of

NUIG by just a length.

Following swiftly were the

Women’s Junior Single

Sculls, where Oisin Ford

from Cork Boat Club came

home to win the race ahead

of Jasmine English of

Belfast Boat Club.

The coveted Men’s Junior

Coxed Four was perhaps

one of the best races of the

day. Everyone, including

the commentator, was

unsure of who was ahead at

any given time. As soon as

one crew edged ahead,

another crew came back

and took the lead. There

was really never anything

in it with crews from

Portora, St Joseph’s, Cork,

Presentation and Bann

battling every step of the

way for the full 2000m. In

the end, Cork pulled

through. However it took a

photo finish to determine

the winner by a small

margin of .2 of a second.

The Women’s Lightweight

Single Scull was a battle

between Claire Lambe (Old

Collegians) and Siobhan

McCrohan (Tribesman).

Lambe pulled through to

win by two seconds. Cork

Boat Club held on in the

Junior Women’s Eights,

where they beat Portora of

Enniskillen.

13

S unday was the day

everyone was excited

about. The first final of the

day started at 11:00am

with the Women’s Junior 16

Quad Scull, followed swiftly

by the Women’s Junior Pair

which was won by the Ford

sisters from Cork BC.

The Men’s Scull was a great

race between UCD (Paul

O’Donovan) and Lee Valley

(John Keohane). In the final

250m Keohane pulled

through to win by 2

seconds. The Men’s

Intermediate Pair was

another photo finish race

with St. Michaels of

Limerick beating

Carlow in the last

250m of the race, by

only .6 of a second.

In the Women’s

Senior Sculls, Claire

Lambe won her second

championship of the event.

In the afternoon the rowing

continued with many fast

and tight races, and the sun

blazed down to add to the

excitement of the final few

races. The Men’s Junior Pair

went to Presentation, Cork

and the Women’s Junior

Quad to Skibbereen. The

composite of NUIG/Cork

stormed through to win the

Women’s Senior Eight.

The day finished with the

final everyone wished and

hoped for, it was always

going to be a tight one.

Trinity took off at the start

of the Men’s Senior Eight

with an initial lead over

NUIG/Grainne Mhaol

(Galway) with UCD in

third place. It was a

battle the whole way

down the course

between the crews

and even in the last

250m it was a difficult

one to call. In the end,

with the crowd

roaring, NUIG/Grainne

Mhaol rowed home to take

their third consecutive title.

A fitting end to a fantastic

weekend.

14

20

14

SEA

SON

WORLD U23

CHAMPIONSHIPS

T he 2014 World U23

Rowing Championships were

held from the 23rd-27th July

in Varese, Italy. Four crews

took to the water to

represent Ireland.

In the Lightweight Men’s

Single Sculls A Final, USA

stormed off the start,

leaving the other rowers

fighting for the minor

positions. Paul O'Donovan

(UCD BC) was neck and

neck with the Turkish and

Italian boats right up to the

half way mark but slipped

into fourth place in the last

500m. Finishing in a time of

7:02.320, he was beaten in

the end by two seconds.

The Lightweight Men’s

Double Scull crew of Shane

O’Driscoll and Gary

O’Donovan (both

Skibbereen RC) came forth

in their B Final, behind a

strong field of Ukraine,

Greece and New Zealand,

finishing 10th overall.

The Men's Coxless Four

of Fionnan McQuillan –

Tolan (Grainne Mhaol RC),

Richard Bennett (NUIG

BC), Robert O’Callaghan

(NUIG BC) and Kevin Neville

(NUIG BC) came 6th in the

B Final.

Unfortunately Denise Walsh

had to pull out of her race

due to illness.

Fantastic results from such

a young group of athletes.

15

HOME INTERNATIONAL

REGATTA

T he 2014 Home

International Regatta was

held on Saturday 26th July

at the National Rowing

Centre, Cork. With

representatives from

England, Ireland, Scotland

and Wales, over 500

participants took part in the

event with a large number

of cheering spectators there

to support the four

countries.

The day started off well

with Emma Desmond (Cork

Boat Club) winning the

Lightweight Women’s Sculls

with an impressive win over

England by ½ length. This

was followed by Niall

Duncan (Cork BC) winning

the Lightweight Men’s

Single Scull.

Only a few races later

Eimantas Grigalius (Three

Castles RC) won the Men’s

Single Scull. Shortly

afterward, the Carlow duo

of Niall Murphy and Alan

McKenna won the Men’s

Pair by over a length to

Scotland, with England and

Wales trailing behind by

over 25 seconds.

Just before lunch another

win came in for Ireland with

the Men’s Junior Double of

Shane Mulvaney (Neptune

RC) and Fintan McCarthy

(Skibbereen RC). The final

win of the day came in the

Men’s Four with a win by a

miniscule .20 of a second.

Pararower Katie O’ Brien

(Tribesman RC) added

another win for Ireland in

the Trunk and Arms Single

Sculls race. She was the

fasted sculler in a time of

4:51.98.

With Scotland winning the

Men’s and Women’s Senior

races and England winning

both the Men’s and

Women’s Junior, an

eventful and successful day

was had by all.

COUPE DE LA JEUNESSE

16

20

14

SEA

SON

F ounded in 1985, the

Coupe is an international

regatta, rowed over a

2000m course. 17 rowers

were chosen to represent

Ireland at the regatta which

was held in Libourne, just

outside Bordeaux in France,

from the 1st-3rd August.

Each category is raced both

on the first and second day

of the regatta, allowing

different winners to be

crowned each day.

Eimear Lambe (Commercial

RC) and Jasmine English

(Belfast BC) rowed in the

Women’s Junior Double

Scull race, finishing 3rd in

the A Final on the first day

of the regatta and 4th on

the second day.

The Women’s Junior

Coxless Quadruple Scull

crew of Emily Hegarty

(Skibbereen RC), Aoife

O’Keeffe (Cork BC), Claire

Beechinor (Cork BC) and

Kirsty Turner (Belfast BC)

finished 1st and 2nd in the B

Final on the first and

second days respectively.

Erin Barry (Bann RC) took

to the water in the

Women’s Junior Single Scull

race and came in 3rd

position in the B Final on

the first day.

The Women’s Junior Pair

team of Oisin and Dervla

Forde, both of Cork BC,

finished 2nd both days in the

A Final.

David O’Malley (St Michael’s

RC) and Connor Carmody

(Shannon RC) came in 2nd

position both days in the A

Final of the Men’s Junior

Double Scull race.

The Men’s Junior Coxless

Quad crew of Colm

Hennessy (Shandon BC),

Eoghan White

(Castleconnell BC), Patrick

Munnelly (Athlone BC) and

Andrew Goff (Waterford BC)

won the A Final on both

days.

Finally the Men’s Junior Pair

team of Brian and David

Keohane (both of

Presentation RC) finished

3rd in the A Final on the first

day of the regatta and 4th

on the second day.

Well done everyone!

COUPE DE LA JEUNESSE YOUTH OLYMPIC

GAMES REGATTA

17

N anjing in China was

the location for the 2014

Youth Olympic Games

Regatta, which was held

from the 17th-20th August.

One rower was chosen to

represent Ireland.

Seventeen year old Eimear

Lambe of Commercial

Rowing Club took to the

water in the Junior

Women’s Single Scull

against some world class

opposition. Eimear made it

into the B Final where she

finished the 1000m course

in 5th place in a time of

4:03.820, behind Norway,

UK, Zimbabwe and Czech

Republic. This means that

Eimear ranks 11th overall.

2014 CALENDAR November Event December Event

1st Castleconnell HOR 6th Muckross HOR

8th Neptune HOR 6th Head of Shannon

15th Bann HOR 20th-21st High Performance Trials

22nd Irish Provinces IRC

29th Ulster IRC

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

18

20

14

SEA

SON

A team of 14 athletes in

seven boats were selected

to represent Ireland at the

2014 World Rowing

Championships, which were

held in Amsterdam from

the 24th to the 31st August.

Racing took place over

eight days and athletes

performed extremely well,

with all boats finishing in

the top 14 in the world.

Women’s Single Scull –

Sanita Puspure (Old

Collegians RC) who

performed extremely well

all year, missed out on a

medal by 1.17 seconds,

finishing in 4th position in

the A Final. Impressively,

she had the fastest last

500m of the race. She is

one to watch in 2015.

Women’s Double Scull –

Monika Dukarska (Killorglin

RC) & Helen Walshe (Three

Castles RC), who only had

six weeks to train together,

finished in 5th position in

the B Final, ranking 11th

overall in the world.

Women’s Pair – Lisa Dilleen

(Grainne Mhaol RC) &

Leonora Kennedy (Portora

BC) made it into the B Final

after just four months of

training together, and

finished in 2nd position,

ranking them 8th overall.

Women’s Lightweight

Double Scull – Denise

Walsh (Skibbereen RC) &

Claire Lambe (Old

Collegians BC) finished 2nd

after a hard fought race

with the Russians and

Swiss in the C Final,

ranking them 14th overall.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

19

Women’s Four – Barbara

O’Brien (NUIG BC), Aifric

Keogh (NUIG BC), Emily

Tormey (NUIG BC) & Marie

O’Neill (Cork BC) were 4th

off the start of the B Final

and held this position

throughout the race,

ranking them 10th overall.

Men’s Lightweight Single

Scull – Paul O’Donovan

(UCD BC) was the second

Irish athlete to make it into

an A Final. He was sixth off

the start but by the halfway

mark he had edged his way

up to fifth position. By

1500m, Paul had moved up

into fourth place and held

this until the end. While he

did just miss out on a

medal, he did row a

personal best time of

6:53.28.

Men’s Lightweight Pair –

Niall Kenny (UCD BC) &

Mark O’Donovan (UL BC)

made it into the B Final of

their category. After going

off the start in fourth

position, they slipped back

into fifth but upped the

pace for the last 500m and

finished 4th, ranking them

10th overall.

After this set of results, the

future certainly looks bright

for Irish rowing. Well done

to everyone involved.

World University

Championships

20

20

14

SEA

SON

T he Irish flag was

proudly flying in the French

wind in Gravelines from the

12th-14th September for the

World University Rowing

Championships. A team of

11 Irish athletes, competing

in six boats, took to the

water to represent

themselves, their colleges

and their country. Under

the watchful eye of Team

Manager Andrew Coleman

from Dublin University

Ladies Boat Club, the crews

performed extremely well in

some tough conditions, with

all finishing within the top

ten in their category.

On Friday morning the

crews took to the water to

compete in the first of the

heats and all finished

strongly to gain a place in

their respective repechages.

Two crews had to go back

on the water Friday evening

for their repechages, while

the other crews had a well-

deserved break for the

evening.

Both the Lightweight Men’s

Single Scull (LM1x) rower

and the Lightweight Men’s

Double Scull (LM2x) crew

were very successful to gain

a place in the semi-finals in

both of their categories.

Saturday morning saw the

remainder of the Irish crews

take to the water for their

respective repechages. The

Lightweight Women’s Single

Scull (LW1x) finished 6th to

gain a place in the B Final;

the Lightweight Women’s

Double Sculls (LW2x) crew

won their repechage to

book a place in the A Final;

the Men’s Single Scull

(M1x) rower came 4th to go

straight into the B Final;

and the Women’s Coxless

Four (W4-) crew came 6th

to book a place in the B

Final.

21

The two crews that gained

a place in the semi-finals on

Friday evening took to the

water again on Saturday

evening. Both finished

strongly to book a place in

the B and A Finals

respectively.

Sunday was the big day as

all crews had their final race

of the Championships. Four

crews competed in the B

Finals on Sunday morning,

while two competed in the

A Finals on Sunday

evening.

A sincere amount of

gratitude must be paid to

Andrew Coleman who

managed the crews in the

run-up to the event as well

as over the whole weekend.

Many thanks also to

Student Sport Ireland for

their support and dedication

to Team Ireland and the

World University Rowing

Championships.

OVERALL RESULTS from the World University Championships

B Finals

LW1x 4th Sinead Dolan (Dublin University Ladies Boat Club) – 10th overall

LM1x 3rd Chris Beck (Queens University Belfast Boat Club) – 9th overall

M1x 3rd Turlough Hughes (University College Dublin Boat Club) – 9th

overall

W4- 3rd Natalie Long (University of London Boat Club), Orla Finnegan &

Grace Collins (University College Dublin Boat Club) & Shelly Dineen

(Dublin City University Boat Club) – 9th overall

A Finals

LW2x 4th overall - Ruth Morris (Dublin University Ladies Boat Club) & Orla

Hayes (University of London Boat Club)

LM2x 6th overall - Shane O'Driscoll & Gary O'Donovan (Cork Institute of

Technology)

After enjoying a short

break after a busy season,

the High Performance and

Development athletes

started back to training at

the National Rowing Centre

at the end of September.

Focus now turns to the

2015 World Championships

where the top 11 boats in

the relevant categories will

qualify for the 2016

Olympic Games in Rio. The

future certainly looks bright

for Irish Rowing thanks to

the performances of all

rowers throughout the

2014 season.

22

20

14

SEA

SON

Head of Charles E uropean bronze

medallist Sanita Puspure

traded her sculls for a

sweep blade a few weeks

ago and took on the world’s

fastest eight at The Head of

the Charles Regatta in

Boston, Massachusetts.

Flying the Irish flag in an

international eight made of

up her sculling rivals,

Puspure and her crew beat

the American Olympic and

World Champions, who are

also the current world

record holders.

Sanita was invited to be in

the eight by Genevra Stone,

the American sculler, who

stroked the winning crew.

Other crew members

included the Czeck Olympic

Champion Mirka Knapkova,

Lithuanian 2013 World

Champion Donata

Vistatairte, Canadian quad

sculler Carling Zeeman,

2014 silver medallist Kim

Crow from Australia,

European silver medallist

Chantal Achterberg from the

Netherlands and Magdalena

Lobnig from Austria. The

crew was expertly coxed by

the American Erin Driscoll.

The crew also split into

small boats for the Saturday

of the two day event and

Sanita was teamed up with

Zeeman in a double. They

had an eventful race with a

time penalty for missing a

buoy and also had a crash

under one of the bridges but

despite this they finished

fourth. The winning crew

was the Dutch double who

came 8th at the London

Games, with Knapkova and

Vistatairte second and

another Dutch double

coming third.

After the eights race,

Puspure said: “It was really

exciting to race in an eight

for a change, especially as it

was with the girls that I

normally line up against. It

was an honour to be asked

to take part and I was

proud to be representing

Ireland and my club Old

Collegians at such a

prestigious event.”

Sanita came home to

prepare for the Rowing

Ireland High Performance

trials where she won her

event, fighting off an

excellent challenge from

Lisa Dilleen.

(L-R)

Sanita Puspure

(Ire), Mirka

Knapkova (Cze),

Donata Vistatairte

(Lith), Chantal

Achterberg (Nth),

Erin Driscoll (US-

Cox), Carling

Zeeman (Can),

Magdekena Lobnig

(Austria), Kim Crow

(Aus), Genevra

Stone (US)

23

AR

OU

ND

THE C

OU

NTR

Y PHOENIX

LIFFEY

DESCENT

July 2014

Photos: Gráinne Mhaol Rowing Club

24

CORK SCULLING

LADDER

Above: Karen Dunne McCarthy,

Captain Cork Boat Club, Shane O’

Connell, Cork Boat Club, Claire

Synnott, Lee Rowing Club, Daniel O’

Sullivan, Lee Rowing Club, Stewart

Davis, Captain, Lee Rowing Club

Above: Pat Hickey, Cork Sculling

Ladder, with joint-winner of the

time trial, Shane O’Connell of

Cork Boat Club—06:54

Left: Pat Hickey,

Cork Sculling

Ladder, with

joint-winner of

the time trial,

Daniel O’Sullivan

of Lee Rowing

Club—06:54

Above: Pat Hickey,

Cork Sculling

Ladder, with the

women’s winner of

the time trial, Claire

Synnott, Lee

Rowing Club—07:43

43rd Cork Sculling Ladder

Sunday 5th October

147 entries

Joint winners

AR

OU

ND

TH

E C

OU

NTR

Y

49th Dublin

Sculling Ladder

Saturday 11th

October

Founded in 1965

by Michael

Johnston

1850 meter

opening time-trial

David Neale—winner senior

men’s section –06:48:22—

Old Collegians

Shane Mulvaney—winner

men’s junior section —

07:16:54—UCD

Ruth Morris—

winner senior

women’s

section—07:39:56

-DULBC

Eimear Lambe—

winner women’s

junior section—

08:50:30—

Commercial BC

DUBLIN SCULLING

LADDER

25

26

AR

OU

ND

TH

E C

OU

NTR

Y Rowing Northern

Ireland By Gordon Reid, Club & Coach Development Officer, Northern Ireland

A plan for Club & Coach

Development (NI) to 2017

has been prepared, and

agreed by the Ulster

Branch. It fits with the

Rowing Ireland Strategic

and Operational plans, and

allows us to check on

progress.

The emphasis on the Club

Development side has been to develop a set of templates and guidance

documents for the benefit of all clubs, and these can

be found on the RI website under a new Club Development area under

‘clubs’ at http://www.rowingireland.ie/club-

development/ along with details of support available.

A lot of work has been involved in developing the

RI Safeguarding Policy and related documents, and making these suitable not

only for safeguarding young people (under 18),

but also vulnerable persons, who are aged 18 or over. This includes older

people, people with a learning, physical or

sensory disability and people with mental illness or dementia. It also

includes informal carers, who provide personal

assistance on an unpaid basis. For this there is

another area on the website under ‘clubs’ at http://

www.rowingireland.ie/

safeguarding-in-rowing/ Thanks are due to Paul

Stephenson (NSPCC) and Bernie Priestly (ISC) for their input.

An Ulster Branch Junior

Development Day was held

in Belfast and whilst not

well attended it provided a

useful model for giving

juniors of a particular age

(J15 & 16 for 2015) an

experience of coaching and

learning outside the

normal club situation, and

provided baseline

measurements and

performance information

for coaches and athletes.

Many thanks to Methodist

College RC and the

coaches who assisted.

I also attended a similar

venture by Methody

themselves to assess and

recognise their own

athletes.

Meetings have been held

with several NI clubs with

the main points of interest

being around employment

of coaches, Strategic

Planning, and setting up a

hub for Para Rowing in NI.

Coach development

efforts have been around

hosting Introductory

courses at Queens and

Portora, and encouraging

six Ulster candidates to

complete Level 3 training.

The challenge remains for

us to get these people to

use their qualifications as

active coaches within

clubs.

I have supported three

coaches to train and

qualify as Tutors for

Safeguarding Awareness

Courses in NI, and four

have been trained as

mentors with help from

SINI.

27

A review of Coach

Education effectiveness is

taking us towards licensing

and ongoing assessment of

coaches, and the training

mentioned above will

assist us with making all of

this happen in a supported

way.

Ongoing work involves

finding a suitable way to

network with active Ulster

coaches, and to allow them

to track their own progress

for the benefit of clubs.

In recent weeks a lot of

time has been spent

planning the ‘Better Clubs,

Better Coaching’

Conference, held in Dublin.

Eighty three attended and

feedback was generally

positive with the most

popular sessions being Don

McLachlan’s Ergometer

drills demo and water drills

video, along with Frank

Coghlan’s practical

implementation a club

development plan and Joe

Schmidt’s entertaining

insights from Irish Rugby.

We are grateful to all our

presenters and I

appreciate the help of

Hamish Adams and Pat

McInerney as organisers.

Presentations are available

on the website.

The Ulster Indoor

Rowing Champs take

place on 29 November at

Queens PE centre and will

incorporate the BUCS

Indoor Rowing Series and

will allow athletes to record

times for RI High

Performance selection.

Details of this event are on

the website.

News from Ulster clubs

includes new coaching at

University of Ulster

Coleraine, good activity at

City of Derry with grant aid

and with Gaetano

completing the Tour Du

Leman 160k longest

rowing race without stops

in a closed basin

worldwide. Belfast BC are

well advanced with a

Strategic Plan, as are

Belfast RC. Portadown held

their Head recently and

clubs are dealing with

healthy intakes for the new

season. Donegal Bay RC

are seeking to develop

sliding/sculling activity at a

new venue and are looking

for assistance and boats.

Coastal clubs have been

formed around Co Down

under the banner of Down

Coastal Rowing Club, and a

successful

Narrows

Challenge event

has been held.

All in Ulster

Rowing were

saddened to

learn of the

deaths of

Stephen

Chambers and Susan

Dickson in recent weeks.

Our thoughts are with their

families.

I look forward to sharing

more updates with you and

am happy to answer

queries.

gordon.reid@rowingireland.ie

28

An artist’s impression of the new boathouse in Tralee

TRALEE RC

T ralee Rowing Club

recently turned the sod on

their new boathouse. This

is a huge step forward for

the club as their boats have

resided in cramped

containers until now.

Tralee Rowing Club was

founded in 2005 after an

initiative was set-up by

Rowing Ireland to develop

more rowing clubs across

Ireland. The then

chairperson of Rowing

Ireland, Frank Durkin,

approached the Kerry Local

Sports Partnership about

holding an open day on the

Ship Canal to see if there

would be much interest in

the sport. Thanks to the

interest that was shown

that day, a committee was

eventually formed, headed

up by Mary Boner.

The club used facilities at

the shipyard at Blennerville

from the time it first

launched a boat on the

canal in spring 2005, and

by the time the autumn

came, the club had

obtained planning

permission to erect a

container to store more

boats, which was going to

allow the club to increase

its membership. The

container arrived in March

2006 and after some very

clever renovations, the

container could hold up to

ten boats.

As the club was gaining in

popularity, it got to a point

that this container was

restricting any further

growth. Hence the need for

a boathouse. So while

Tralee Rowing Club has, for

the past eight years,

operated out of a 44ft

container which has served

them very well, it is now

time to turn attention to

the new boathouse.

Minister Jimmy Deenihan

was one of the local people

who helped secure funding

for this project and the club

is very grateful for his

support and for the support

from everyone else who

has helped out along the

way including sponsors and

members of the public.

Members of Tralee Rowing Club

at the turning of the sod

AR

OU

ND

TH

E C

OU

NTR

Y

29

A perfect Autumn day

heralded the 2nd SMRC

Urban Run in Limerick City

on Sunday 5th October, at

which there were nearly

500 participants.

Neil Cusack, the only Irish

winner of the Boston City

Marathon, blew the whistle

to start this event.

Results from the 10K event

were fast again this year,

with a great turn out of

very high quality runners.

For the 2nd year, the first

in the Men's went to Julio

Cesar Castro of Kilmurry

Ibrickane in 32.40. Second

place went to Matthew

Horrigan, Rathfarnham AC,

and third to Keith Lynch,

BMOH.

The 10K Women's event

was won by Orla Drumm of

Crusaders in 35.48. Second

place went to Sinead

Jennings, SMRC, and third

to Tracey Johnson,

Dooneen AC.

The addition of the team

runners in the 5K gave this

event a more personal feel.

Custom t-shirt wearers and

mascot bearers were

cheered along the route by

friends and family. Teams

from Laurel Hill Colaiste,

Glenstal Abbey School, St.

Augustines School, Grow,

CSPP & Action Breast

Cancer did themselves

proud. The winners in this

event were Ger Bowen,

Stephen O'Donovan & Paul

Strachwitz in the Men's

category; Roisin Ni Iomhair,

Emer Conroy Donovan &

Luci Lane in the Women's

category.

The run was held as part of

Limerick’s Mental Health

Awareness Week and funds

were raised on

the day for

Corbett Suicide

Prevention

Watch, the Irish

Cancer Society,

and the rowing

club’s Youth

Training Programme.

St. Michael's Rowing Club

would like to

sincerely thank

sponsors and

contributors for

enabling this

event to take place. Also

thanks to the people and

organisations who made

this a safe and very

enjoyable

day out for

everyone.

SMRC Urban Run

Moses Kispirs (centre) at the launch of the run, with President

SMRC, Austin Leddin, and co-ordinator of the run, Antoinette Ahern.

Participants at the start line of the run

30

CIRC CELEBRATES 80

YEARS OF ROWING Pictured above is the first Jes crew from 1934; from left, Bertie Kavanagh (cox), Bill Donovan,

Gerry Colgan, John Keogh and Austin Caulfield.

C olaiste Iognaid (Jes)

Rowing Club was founded

in October 1934 and so this

year marks the 80th

anniversary of rowing at

the school. To celebrate

this significant occasion and

the proud Jes rowing

tradition, the club held a

series of events on

Saturday, October 18th.

The Jes Rowing Club has

enjoyed success at home

and abroad over the last

eight decades, winning 18

national championships.

Its most recent success on

the international stage was

at the prestigious Ghent

Regatta in May of this year

when it won the junior

coxed four event. The club

has also produced a

remarkable number of 63

rowers who have

represented Ireland at

junior level, with several of

these going on to later row

internationally at senior

level.

The highlight of the

commemorations was a

dinner in the Ardilaun Hotel

on the evening of October

18th. The club also

prepared a history of

rowing at Colaiste Iognaid

down through the

generations. This book was

launched at the dinner by

journalist, broadcaster and

former Jes rower, Sean

O’Rourke.

There was also a re-

dedication ceremony for the

Jes clubhouse. The driving

force behind rowing in the

school for fifty years was

Fr. Eddie Diffely, S.J.,

beginning when he was a

student in the school in the

early 1930s. To mark his

enormous contributions,

the clubhouse is now

named the Fr. Eddie Diffely

clubhouse in his honour.

This ceremony also took

place on October 18th as

part of the celebrations.

Congratulations to all

involved and best wishes to

the club for the future.

AR

OU

ND

TH

E C

OU

NTR

Y

31

CITY OF DERRY BC

T he City of Derry

Boating Club has had a

busy year, despite many of

the Head of Rivers being

cancelled due to bad

weather. That didn’t stop

the Northern Irish rowers

taking to the water,

however, in various events.

In May, the club held a

sponsored row, raising over

£2,500. The funds were

split equally between the

club and the Merryn Lacy

Foundation. Merryn is a five

-year-old girl who was

diagnosed with

Neuroblastoma (an

aggressive childhood

cancer of the nervous

system), when she was just

four. Monies raised for this

fund go towards her

treatment and towards

children’s cancer research.

The Mayor presented the

cheque to the participants.

The club also had the

honour of taking part in the

Commonwealth Baton

Relay in May, by rowing the

baton from the pontoon in

Derry to Prehan boathouse.

The club is having a lot of

interest from older people

who are interested in

learning to row. They are

always happy for

newcomers to come

along and try it out so

pop along if you are ever

in the area.

They finished their season

with some whacky races

and a BBQ for members!

32

NEW ROSS BOAT CLUB GREAT

BARROW CHALLENGE

T his year’s rowing event

from St. Mullins to New Ross

attracted an even bigger

entry than other years with

72 crews attempting to post

the fastest time over the

18km river course. This was

done by the Eight from

Commercial / Old

Collegians Boat Club from

Dublin in a time of 58

minutes and 39 seconds

while the Neptune Four, also

from the Liffey, finished

second overall. The

organising and home club,

New Ross Boat Club, had its

biggest entry with five Fours

completing the course and

the New Ross Men’s club

4X+ finished in the top 10

fastest times with a time of

71 minutes and 36 seconds.

Close neighbours

Graiguenamanagh had three

crews rowing, their Men’s

J18 2x putting in an

impressive time of 68

minutes and 28 seconds.

This year saw the

reappearance of the

international entries with

Exeter, Dart Totnes from

England competing against

crews from Derry, Belfast

and clubs from all over

Ireland. The last time the

Barrow saw so many visiting

clubs was in the 80’s when

the race was held in

February as the Head of

River Race.

13th Septem-

ber

St. Mullins to

New Ross

18km

Winners: 8+ Commercial/Old Collegians BC—58

minutes, 39 seconds

New Ross Men’s 4x+ - Top 10—71 minutes, 36

seconds

International Entries

AR

OU

ND

TH

E C

OU

NTR

Y

33

The most competitive

grouping was from the ever

increasing coastal rowing

clubs, with Vartry Men’s

Universal crew finishing at

79 minutes and 9 seconds.

There was little or nothing

between competing

Wexford cots crews from

St. Kearns, Edermine and

Killurin.

As with any event, but

especially water based

events, safety is

paramount, and 28 safety

boats lined the 18km

course, made up of

Wexford and Kilkenny Civil

Defence, Kilkenny and

Hook Sub Aqua Clubs and

motor boats and cruisers all

manned voluntarily on the

day. First aid and

ambulance cover was

provided by Wexford Civil

Defence.

Club Captain, John Dimond,

said that “it’s great that our

weeks of planning and a

long days hard work on

Saturday - with the

cooperation of everyone:

visiting clubs, safety boats,

and club members, up to

500 people in all working

and pulling together –

has resulted in a most

enjoyable event.”

A selection of the rowers and crews that took part in the New Ross Boat Club Great Barrow

Challenge

34

Tribesmen Rowing Club

participated in a Tour Row

in Moissac France in

September 2014. A group

of twenty-eight rowers

aged between thirty and

seventy took part in the

event. The majority of the

group were from Tribesmen

but some friends from

Dublin Commercial and

Belfast Boat Club

accompanied us.

Most of the rowers

departed Dublin airport on

Friday 26 September 2014

and arrived in Toulouse

airport. From there we got

a bus to Moissac which is

about 60 kilometres north

of Toulouse. Our

accommodation was hostel

style twin rooms in a

former Carmelite convent,

breakfast was continental

style. On Friday night we

adjourned to the taverns in

the mediaeval town square

of Moissac, a five minute

walk from our

accommodation.

On Saturday morning we

walked the ten minutes to

Moissac boat club where we

were assigned our ‘Tour

Boats’ but before we

launched another breakfast

of Danish pastries,

croissants, coffee and local

fruits was served. Each of

the Tribesmen five crews

took possession of their

assigned tour boats and

launched onto the river Le

Tarn, a beautiful, wide,

slow moving river. The

weather was brilliant

sunshine, 30 degrees

centigrade. About thirty

crews rowed up Le Tarn

until we entered Le

Garonne River, after about

twenty kilometres we pulled

into a sailing club and took

a short walk across a park

into a wooded area where

the tables were set for a

five course lunch which

included as much wine as

one wanted. In true French

fashion the lunch break

lasted two and a half hours.

The French participants

were abstemious with the

wine and sat in the shade

of the trees and were

amused to see the Irish

sitting out in the midday

sun having a good lash at

the wine. The French

understand the concept of

moderation in relation to

wine consumption but some

of the Tribesmen didn’t. We

headed home by a slightly

different route which was

still some twenty kilometres

and some of the Tribesmen

were a little the worst for

wear in the 30 degree

sunshine. We placed the

boats on the racks and

went back to our

accommodation for a

shower and siesta. At 7pm

we were picked up by a bus

and brought to a farm

about ten kilometres from

Moissac for the gala dinner.

MOISSAC TOUR ROW

FRANCE 26-29 SEPT 2014

THE TRIBESMEN EXPERIENCE

AR

OU

ND

TH

E C

OU

NTR

Y

35

We were greeted with the

sight of a pig and a lamb

roasting on a spit when we

arrived. Aperitifs were

served and we sat down in

a long wooden cabin for the

gala dinner which lasted

until the early hours of the

morning. Traditional French

music was played

throughout the evening and

needless to say the

Tribesmen and women

gave several renditions of

Irish ballads and were

horrified when the French

identified the ‘Fields of

Athenry’ as the Munster

Rugby Song. Our French

speakers gave a geography

lesson to our French hosts

as to the whereabouts of

Athenry.

Next morning after

breakfast we headed down

Le Tarn for ten kilometres

through vineyards to a

chateaux overlooking a

weir. We turned there and

returned to Moissac, de-

rigged our boats and placed

them on a French Rowing

Federation trailer, which to

our amazement had the

capacity to carry eighteen

tour boats. Another

sumptuous five course

lunch followed through

which a jazz band played.

In the afternoon most of

the tribesmen and women

hired bicycles and cycled

along the tow-path of a

canal as far as a nuclear

power station. Reenergised

we returned to Moissac and

had a meal in a restaurant

in the town square.

Next day, Monday 29

September we spent the

morning visiting the shops

in Moissac and at midday

our bus collected us and

brought us to Toulouse

airport. Most headed home

but some had arranged to

extend their holiday. We

arrived back in Dublin

airport at four-thirty in the

afternoon.

The cost of the return

flights to Toulouse from

Dublin varied between

€100 and €130 depending

on when one booked. The

Moissac organisers charged

€206 per person and this

included the hire of the

boats for the three rows,

three nights B&B, 2

lunches, and the Gala

dinner. Wine, aperitifs, soft

drinks throughout the

weekend and bottled water

for the rows was included.

Photographs of the event can be viewed at: https://

picasaweb.google.com/104362729719789240597/RandoChasselasMoissacSep

tembre2014?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1s

RgCMHXnP-TjNaBIg&feat=directlink

Eamonn Colclough

Tribesmen Rowing Club

36

SPO

TLIG

HT

ON

…C

LUB

S CORK BC

CORK BOAT CLUB

R ecent years have

proved very exciting for the

members of Cork Boat Club

based on the Marina in

Cork City, both on and off

the water. Founded in

1899, the club has been

going from strength to

strength thanks to a large

team of dedicated and

passionate coaches, an

active Club Committee and

tremendous support from

parents and local agencies.

The club now has a rowing

membership of over 200,

and a hands-on coaching

staff of 25.

“We have been very lucky

over the years with the

amount of former members

who have kept their links

with Boat Club, and stayed

on to coach the next

generations of our rowers.

Many of our coaches have

also coached at

International level and they

pass on a wealth of

experience to our Juniors”,

said newly elected Club

Captain Karen McCarthy.

The club has achieved a

great deal of rowing

success lately, and for the

past two years has been

the club with the highest

level of representation in

the International squad

selections, having had 14

members selected for

Ireland in each of the past

two years.

This culminated in great

wins for Ireland in the

Men’s and Women’s

Lightweight Sculls at the

Home Internationals at the

NRC this year for Boat Club

members Niall Duncan and

Emma Desmond. Club

member Marie O’Neill, who

has herself won seven Irish

National Championships

during her rowing career,

was also selected to row in

the Women’s Four at the

World Championships held

in Amsterdam in August.

LEFT: Winners Women’s Junior 8+ 2014 Irish

Championships: Claire Beechinor, Aoibhe Luke, Laura

Kilbane, Oisin Forde, Niamh O’Sullivan (Cox), Dervla

Forde, Aoife O’Keeffe, Amy Mason, Megan

McLaughlin

ABOVE: Winners Men’s Junior 4+ 2014 Irish

Championships: Shane O’Connell, Stephen Murphy,

Conor Twohig (Cox) Seán Dennehy, Thomas Higgins

37

Off the water, the club has

undergone an extensive

programme of

transformation and

investment in every aspect

of its building and grounds.

This has been driven by a

very active Club Committee

and has been achieved

through new partnerships

with the local community,

businesses and civil groups.

This has included the

addition of a second

launching slip, the painting

of the clubhouse inside and

out, a major overhaul of

the electric wiring in the

club, the opening of new

ladies and gents

bathrooms, a complete

renovation of the women’s

changing rooms with new

showers, a makeover of the

Club Bar and its historical

photographs, and finally the

addition of an eight metre

flagpole which has the Boat

Club flag flying proudly at

the Blackrock end of the

Marina!

One of the successful

initiatives of recent years

has been the establishment

of a Club Café which is

open every Saturday and

Sunday morning at the

Club.

“It is run by a great group

of parents and apart from

being a valuable source of

funds for the Club, it

provides an opportunity for

all club members young

and not so young to gather,

share a story and simply

get to know each other. It

has proven to be an

extremely important way of

generating and fostering

club spirit and gets new

parents quickly involved in

the Club”, said Club

President, Emmett Walsh.

The Club Café is also where

the Club History Sub-

Committee meets every

Sunday morning. This

group was led by Ger Healy

- oarsman, coach, Club

Historian and one of Boat

Club’s finest sons who

unfortunately passed away

in July, a huge loss to his

family and the club. As Club

Historian, Ger was in the

process of writing the

history of Cork Boat Club

and the History Sub-

Committee is already

working on finishing the

tremendous work that Ger

had started.

Like many clubs around the

country, Cork Boat Club has

benefited from the National

Sports Capital Grants

programme in recent years

- “As a result of the Sports

Capital Grant we received

last year, we were able to

add a lot of new boats to

the club which was well

overdue. We had not been

in a position to acquire new

boats for many years

before that. The benefits

that these new boats have

brought to the club is

immeasurable.” added

Karen.

“This year we have been

granted funding to put

toward the development of

our Clubhouse. Through

volunteer parents who have

professional experience as

architects and engineers,

we have drawn up plans

that will use this funding to

go a long way toward

implementing our Club

Development Plan. It is

very exciting to see these

initiatives, and the real

difference that a

Government programme

like this can bring at a local

level.”

As the year moves on, the

highlight of the Club’s social

calendar will take place in

November with its annual

Victory Dinner Dance.

“It’s a long-standing

tradition going back to the

1950s. This is our annual

opportunity to celebrate all

our successes big and

small, and to acknowledge

the hard work that the

rowers, their coaches, and

all our volunteers undertake

to make the club what it is.

Most importantly, we will

take the time to remember

the giants of the Club who

have gone before and

remember their tireless

work in building a Club that

we are all so proud of.”

concluded Emmett.

38

SPO

TLIG

HT

ON

…R

OW

ERS

MONIKA DUKARSKA

“What am I doing here? I

wouldn’t mind being the

spectator. Am I feeling ok?

Am I ready?” These were

just some of the thoughts

that ran through Monika

Dukarska’s mind as she

lined up at the start of her

final at the World

Championships. These

thoughts soon turned to

“you can do this, you have

trained hard to be here,

just go for it!”, and the

minute she took the first

stroke all these thoughts

disappeared and the focus

went on each stroke at a

time. “The two minute

waiting period before the

start of the race and the

role call are the most

stressful moments. We are

all lined up, in silence,

ready to blow ourselves to

pieces for our country, for

our team, and we know it

will hurt.”

The last few months have

been hectic for Kerry rower

Monika Dukarska, but she

wouldn’t change any of it.

While she was completing a

Research Masters at IT

Tralee, she was also chosen

to represent Ireland at the

2014 World Rowing

Championships, which were

held in Amsterdam in

August.

Born in Poland, Monika

moved to Ireland in 2006.

Before coming here she

never participated in rowing

and instead was more

interested in basketball.

However as soon as she

saw the beautiful Kerry

coastline, she couldn’t

resist getting out on the

water. She joined Killorglin

Rowing Club and the rest is

history. Monika says that

getting involved in rowing

really helped her to

“become part of the Irish

community”, thanks to the

team spirit that goes with

the sport, while it also

helped her to learn English.

Just a mere six weeks

before the World

Championships, Monika was

paired with Wicklow rower,

Helen Walshe, to form the

Women's Double Scull

crew. Because of the short

time period involved,

training in the run-up to the

event was intense. “We

trained two to three times a

day, every day. The

sessions varied from rowing

itself to bike, ergometer or

weight sessions.”

A lot of time was spent on

technical work in order to

allow the two females to

move exactly the same

during the rowing stroke.

39

For a crew that had only six

weeks to get in rhythm with

each other, they performed

exceptionally well, finishing

11th overall, proving that

this combination has a lot

of potential to go forward.

If they perform the same

next year, they will qualify

for the 2016 Rio Olympics

as it is the top 11 boats in

each category that qualify.

However there is huge hope

that they could place even

better than this year.

According to Monika,

rowing in a crew is not as

easy as it may seem. Two

(or more) people must

become one in order to

move the boat as efficiently

and as fast as possible.

“Two people have to be

able to adjust to one

another, feel the boat,

know exactly what the

other person is doing.” Not

all partnerships work

together but if they do,

Monika describes it as

“magical”.

Many Irish supporters

travelled to Amsterdam and

Monika, and all the

rowers who were

representing Ireland,

appreciated the support. “It

was great to see familiar

faces and hear them

shouting for us while

racing.” While only three

rowers travelled to Chung-

ju in South Korea last year

for the same event, a

strong team of 14 made

their way to Amsterdam to

represent Ireland so Monika

thinks this added to the

atmosphere and excitement

at the Championships.

23-year-old Monika was, up

to recently, a scholarship

student at IT Tralee and

was conferred with a

Masters after she

researched “Becoming an

Entrepreneur: Researching

the Role of Mentors in

Identity Construction”.

Before this, she also

completed her Honours

Degree in Business Studies

in Management there and

received a well-deserved

first class honours. While

rowing is where her

immediate future lies, in

time Monika hopes to do a

PhD in the area of

mentorship and

entrepreneurship. Dr

Monika Dukarska – it

certainly has a ring to it!

The future does indeed look

bright for Monika. Right

now her focus is on

qualifying for the Rio

Olympics in 2016, and after

that she would like to go on

and compete for medals at

the Tokyo Olympics in

2020. “I wish to make

rowing my full-time job for

the next four Olympic

cycles if possible.”

Monika enjoyed a break

after the World

Championships, and spent

her time catching up on

socialising, shopping and

spending time with her

family. However now it’s

back to training for Monika

& all the High-Performance

athletes at Rowing Ireland.

Monika Dukarska & Helen

Walshe competing at the

World Championships 2014

By: Niamh Hayes

40

SPO

TLIG

HT

ON

…R

OW

ERS

For the next while the focus

is on developing good

physiology & strength

through weights sessions,

ergometer (rowing

machine) work and water

sessions.

At times, especially during

the winter months when

training gets monotonous

and hard, Monika feels like

she might be missing out

on being normal, but as

soon as she has a day off

and doesn’t know what to

do with herself, she realises

that she wouldn’t have her

life any other way. “It is

something that I love,

therefore it is not as hard a

job as one would imagine.”

Monika’s family and friends

have been a great support

to her, and she is especially

grateful for their kindness

and support when things

don’t always work out. “The

first two events of the

season were not as

successful. Their support

was really needed at that

time.” She believes that the

voice of encouragement has

the potential to create

miracles.

While she may only be in

Ireland with eight years,

she certainly has made an

impact both in the sporting

and academic world since

her move. As she says

herself, “rowing has

become part of who I am”.

The future certainly looks

bright for this young

oarsperson and we look

forward to seeing her

achieve much more in the

coming years.

Team Ireland, World Rowing Championships 2014

41

MARY MCLACHLAN

How did you first get

involved in rowing? I was 12 when someone I

knew from the local rowing club asked me to go and cox his J16 four. I did that

for two years and then realised I wanted to have a

go myself and started sculling. It was just a little local club near Cambridge

in England but there were a handful of good athletes

there who trained hard so I got schooled in how to nail it from a young age.

When and where did you start coaching?

My first real coaching job was at the Lady Eleanor

Holles School for girls in England. My boss was ex-Olympic sculler Beryl

Crockford who’d been formidable in the seventies

and eighties. She really valued her coaching team and backed us to the hilt,

but made sure we learnt from our mistakes. It was

there that I learnt how a good boss operated. I coached the J13s and 14s

for two years. The school was very successful at that

time with a young and ambitious coaching staff and I learnt a huge amount

from the other coaches and the girls.

How difficult was the transition from rower to coach?

I thought that my knowledge of the sport as

an athlete would stand me in good stead for my coaching but I found out

that was nonsense. It’s not a transferable set of skills.

In fact, leaning on your own

experiences as an athlete can sometimes cloud your

judgement of a coaching situation in a negative way. Some of the world’s best

coaches have never even rowed and some of the

world’s best rowers make terrible coaches! What attracted you to

coaching? I very rarely had good

coaching in my years in the sport and on the rare occasions that I did it was

such a life-changing, revelatory experience that I

wanted to see if I could provide that positive

experience to others. How have you managed to stay coaching for so

long? I’ve never, in twenty years,

felt bored by the job or not wanted to jump out of bed and get on with the day. I

feel so lucky to do something that I love so

much. Also, for every athlete you coach you have an entirely different

experience, so it never gets old.

What are the top three attributes of a successful coach in your opinion?

Patience, because technique and physiology evolve

slowly, as do people’s faith in you and understanding of what you’re trying to do.

Vision, in that you need to know what you want and

you need to consistently work towards that. And an enthusiastic tenacity,

because you have to relentlessly drive forwards

even

when it

sometimes feels like the changes that you want aren’t happening and if you

get disillusioned in any way then your programme will

suffer. Do you have any particular attributes that

you look for in a developing athlete?

Attitude is altitude. Okay, if you’re small and weak you’re probably going to

struggle to make the top end of the sport, but if

someone can match my commitment, then they get

my attention. Also, smartness. Anyone can be hard, but to be hard and

smart, knowing when to push and when to be

relaxed in a confident way, that’s real talent. What is the best

coaching book that you have ever read or that

you would strongly recommend to another coach?

I love The Joy of Sculling by Jimmy Joy, which is all

about the search for mental stillness and mastery in the heat of battle. The Big Miss

by Hank Haney is also excellent. It’s about the guy

who changed Tiger Wood’s swing. It was so exciting for Haney to work with the

world’s most talented golfer but in the end his coaching

principles meant more to him than being associated with Woods and they parted

ways.

SPO

TLIGH

T ON

…C

OA

CH

ES Mary is a High Performance Coach and is based at the National Rowing Centre

42

SPO

TLIG

HT

ON

…R

I STA

FF NIAMH HAYES

Niamh joined the team at

the start of September after

completing her Masters in

Journalism with New Media.

Here Niamh tells us about

herself and how she is

finding the role so far…

Welcome to the team

Niamh. How are you

finding it?

Thank you! It’s great so far.

The people are nice, I’m

enjoying the work and the

lunchtime walks in Farren

Wood are an added bonus.

Can you tell us a little bit

about yourself?

I’m from the little village of

Rathbarry in West Cork.

When I was 8 I started

coastal rowing with my

local club Galley Flash.

Despite a break last year, I

have rowed every year

since. I have competed in

many All-Ireland

Championships and have

won the under 14 girls,

under 21 ladies, Cork Yawl

ladies and just this year,

the junior ladies race. I also

have many 2nds and 3rds,

including coming 3rd in the

All-Ireland senior ladies

race in 2012. I am heavily

involved in coxing and

coaching other crews in my

club, particularly the men’s

crews.

I am also an avid

weightlifter. In the past I

was a competitive

powerlifter whereas now I

prefer bodybuilding.

I spent six years in

college—three years

completing my degree in

Early Years Education, two

years as Vice-President

Welfare Officer of CIT

Students’ Union and one

year working under the

Registrar of CIT while also

completing my Masters.

Why did you apply for

the role?

When I saw the job

advertised it was as if my

two passions collided—

rowing and the media. I

hope that through my role I

can pull my experiences in

both areas together in

order to build the profile of

rowing in Ireland. Rowing is

a fantastic sport and

everyone should know

about it!

To contact Niamh, email

niamh.hayes@rowingireland.ie

In a new section of the newsletter, we want

you to get to know the staff of Rowing

Ireland. In this issue we are introducing one

of the newest members of the team—Niamh

Hayes who is the new Communications &

Administrative Officer.

43

WHAT’S

ALL

THE FUSS

ABOUT?

Photo: Activz.com

By Laura Mahony, Performance Nutritionist, SINI

T here are a number of reasons why you might

want to take an interest in your nutrition now that the new rowing season has

commenced. Firstly, you need to remember that

just like a car needs petrol to run, your body also needs fuel to function

properly. This fuel comes from the food that you eat,

so as you can imagine, there is a huge variety in the quality of the fuel that

you can give to your body. If you are looking to train

at your best, you need to put the best fuel into your

‘engine’ - this article will give you a few tips on how

to achieve this.

There are a number of different food sources of

energy. The main ones that we are going to talk about are carbohydrates,

protein and fat. Alongside these, the body also needs

smaller amounts of what we call essential minerals and vitamins. Their role is

very varied and includes allowing the cells to

release the energy that is contained in food, maintaining a good

immune system, building

strong bones and teeth,

and controlling body fluids

inside and outside cells.

We cannot forget about the importance of fluid either when we talk about

nutrition – did you know that about 60% of your

body is made up of water? Did you also know that if you are dehydrated this

can affect your level of concentration? As

technique is critical to boat speed on the water you want to ensure that you

can concentrate fully on maintaining this right

throughout your session.

How much of each

nutrient do I need to

eat?

The ratio of your

carbohydrate to protein to fat intake will vary as the

year progresses. As you will now be in a general preparation phase where

training is likely to focus on high volume/low

intensity, with an emphasis on aerobic development, the nutrition

goals would tend to focus on providing a high calorie

intake to support the training and facilitate adequate recovery, and

also to support desired

changes in bodyweight if applicable. You can see

from the table (overleaf) what this means in terms of actual grams of

carbohydrate, fat and protein for your

bodyweight.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are stored

in the body (as glycogen) and are the best source of

fuel for high intensity exercise. Glycogen stores in the body are limited

however, so if you are training more than once

per day it is essential that you replenish or restock in

order to have enough fuel on board for your second training session of the day.

The amount of carbohydrate you will need

to eat will depend on a number of things such as your age, your body size,

your gender and the amount and intensity of

exercise you are doing. If you know your weight in kilograms you can work

out on average how much carbohydrate you need per

day based on Table 1

(overleaf).

NU

TRITIO

N

44

NU

TRIT

ION

There are 2 types of

carbohydrate – sugary carbs (sugar, jam, fruit

juice, honey), and complex, or starchy carbs, (bread, rice, potatoes,

cereal, pasta, fruit,

vegetables).

The majority of your energy should be coming from your complex carbs

and you can do this by

basing each meal around this food group, so for

example having cereal or toast for breakfast, a sandwich or pitta bread or

couscous with a salad at lunch, potatoes/pasta or

rice with dinner. Some rowers may need to include more of the sugary

carbs around their training

times simply to get enough

energy to sustain their training loads (eg

heavyweight males), whereas some rowers (eg lightweights) may need to

carefully monitor how much of these they include

in their daily diet in order to help them with their

weight management.

Nutrient Phase of Training

Nutrient Range 60kg female lightweight rower might need….

90kg male heavyweight rower might need….

Carbohydrate Moderate exercise programme (1 hr / day)

5 -7 g Carbohydrate per kilogram bodyweight per

day

300g carbohydrate per day

630g carbohydrate per day

High intensity programme ( 1-3 hr / day)

6 – 10 g Carbohydrate per kilogram bodyweight per

day

360g carbohydrate per day*

900g carbohydrate per day

Protein General Prep (High training volume 5-12+hr /week)

1.5-1.7g protein per kilogram bodyweight per day

90g protein per day

135 – 153g protein per day

Fat General Prep (High training volume 5-12+hr /week)

1.5-2g fat per kilogram bodyweight per day

No > 90g fat per day*

135 – 180g fat per day

Table 1— Guidelines for nutrient intake during General Prep Phase of Rowing Season (Adapted from Burke et al 2011 and Stellingwerff et al 2011)

*Depending on body composition, for lightweights these figures may need adjustment

Starchy Carbs (eat more of these) Sugary Carbs (limit your intake of these)

High Fibre breakfast cereals such as porridge / Weetabix / shredded wheat

Sugar coated breakfast cereals

Breads – including pitta / wraps Fizzy drinks / Sweetened fruit juices

Potatoes, pasta, rice, noodles, couscous Jam, honey, marmalade

Vegetables such as sweetcorn, beans, peas, lentils, carrots

Sweets, cakes, jellies

Fruit – all types (fresh, tinned, dried) Sweet desserts such as jelly, meringues, ice-cream

Crackers / Crisp breads Sports Energy Drinks

Table 2 – Sources of Carbohydrates

Protein

Protein is another essential nutrient that the body needs.

It is essential for growth and repair of damaged cells, eg muscle tissue. When protein

is digested, it is broken down

into amino acids. These are

the building blocks that are used to repair the different

cells of the body. There are 20 different amino acids all with different roles, so it is

essential that you eat a mix of protein sources in order to

get the full variety (the body

can produce about half of these amino acids itself, but

the others must come from your diet and are called essential amino acids). See

table (right) for your sources

of protein.

The body can best utilise

protein if it gets regular small amounts throughout

the day, so instead of only having protein at 2 meals a day (eg lunch and dinner),

try to make sure you have four protein based meals

per day. For example this

could mean having scrambled eggs in the

morning, (or if you are having toast, add a glass of milk or a carton of yogurt),

lunch might include chicken, tuna, eggs or ham,

dinner might also include a

meat or some beans, and a bedtime snack could be a

small bowl of cereal with milk. In terms of how many grams of protein this

means for you, you can

work this out from table 1.

Animal Protein Sources Vegetable Protein Sources*

Red meat eg beef, pork, lamb Beans eg kidney beans, baked beans

White meat eg chicken, turkey Lentils

Fish (white + oily + shellfish) Peas

Eggs Nuts + Seeds

Cheese Soya Protein eg tofu

Milk / Yogurt Quorn

Table 3 (above) - Sources of protein. *Vegetable sources of protein do not have as good a mix of amino acids in them, so vegetarians need to ensure they include a wide variety of sources of protein in their diet.

Fat

A certain amount of fat in our diets is essential in

order to stay healthy. Fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K are all found in sources of

fat. The important thing to remember when looking at

your fat intake is to make sure you are eating the ‘healthy’ fats. These are

found in nuts, avocados,

oily fish (salmon, sardines and mackerel are all

excellent sources of Omega 3), and vegetable oils. The less-healthy fats are found

in foods such as crisps, pastries, pies and deep-

fried foods. If there is too much fat in your diet it may impact on your body

composition in a negative

way, but similarly, if there is too little fat in your diet,

you might not be able to give your body the energy

it needs for training.

Again you can work out your own requirements

based on table 1 and what your current targets are in

terms of body composition.

45

Photo: IRFU

46

NU

TRIT

ION

So if you were to follow the

guidelines in table 1 here is what a days intake might

look like for our 2 rowers,

assuming they are in a general preparation phase

and are undertaking a high

volume of training of about

10-12hrs per week:

60kg Female Lightweight Rower

90kg Heavyweight Rower Key notes

Breakfast 1 glass orange juice

1 sachet quick cook porridge + skimmed milk + blueberries

1 slice wholemeal toast with low fat spread + jam

Tea + Water

Large smoothie made with yogurt (full fat), orange juice, banana, blueberries, oats

If you don’t like eating a big breakfast first thing in the morning a smoothie can be a good option

90 min paddle Water Homemade sports drink (fruit diluted squash + water + ¼ teaspoon salt)

Sports drink may not be necessary if duration is less than 90mins – depends on intensity and sweat rate

Post paddle snack

Low fat yogurt + Granola

Banana

Water

Scrambled eggs (2) + Toast x 2 with butter + glass orange juice + fruit corner yogurt

Ensure recovery meal contains a mix of carbohydrate + protein

Lunch Chicken + Vegetable Soup

2 slices brown soda bread with low fat spread

1 glass skimmed milk

Wholegrain chicken baguette with salad, coleslaw + portion oven baked wedges

Pint diluted fruit squash

Afternoon/ Pre training snacks

60-75 minute Strength + Conditioning

Handful of mixed nuts + raisins

½ pint semi-skimmed milk

Rice Cakes + Peanut Butter

Cereal bar + handful nuts/raisins

Apple

Pint diluted fruit squash

Examples of different snacks

Dinner 2 x beef fajitas with mixed veg + salad

Pasta + tuna in cream cheese sauce with mixed veg

Ice-cream, Jelly + Fruit cocktail

Pint diluted fruit squash

Bedtime Snack Small bowl cereal + skimmed milk

Toast x 2 with butter + jam

½ pint semi-skimmed milk

Nutritional content

Energy - 2200kcal Energy - 4800kcal

In summary, just as you

spend time preparing your boat and equipment or

planning your training schedule, you also need to spend time planning your

food intake. Eating the right

foods at the right times will help you to train harder and

longer, and more importantly will allow you to recover fully to ensure

your next session is just as

good as your previous one.

See right for handy protein

and carbohydrate sources/

measurements/calories.

47

Carbohydrate Source Calories

50g Sources

2 slices bread + 1 teaspoon jam/honey 230kcal

2 medium-large bananas 200kcal

1 medium baked potato 220kcal

150g (cooked) pasta 250kcal

160g (cooked) rice 225kcal

Protein Source

Calories Handy Measure

20g Protein Sources

Chicken 110 1 small fillet (75g)

Beef/Lamb/Pork

160 2 medium slices (75g)

Salmon 170 1 small fillet (80g)

Tinned Tuna in Oil

130 Half tin (70g)

Eggs 240 3 medium eggs

10g Protein Sources

Milk (Semi-Skimmed)

130 ½ pint

Cheddar Cheese

165 2 matchbox size pieces (40g)

Mozzarella Cheese

125 4 medium slices (50g)

Cottage Cheese

80

2 table-spoons (80g)

Yogurt (Natural)

150 1 ½ car-tons (170g)

Nuts 305 1 small packet (50g)

Baked Beans

165 Half large tin (195g)

Bread 230-280 3-4 slices (100-130g)

Peanut Butter

310 1 ½ table-spoons (50g)

Handy protein (left) & carbohydrate

(below) sources/measurements/

calories

48

GET

GO

ING

...G

ET R

OW

ING

GET GOING...GET ROWING

T he Get Going...Get

rowing initiative started in

schools in the beginning of

March 2014. It has

commenced as a pilot

scheme in the Leinster area

and its aim is to get kids

rowing in schools with the

eventual goal to get them

on the water and joining

clubs.

To date the project has had

huge success with fifteen

secondary schools and four

primary schools across the

Dublin area rowing. It was

initially thought that over

2000 kids would be targeted

in the first year of the

project but to date the

initiative has exceeded all

expectations with nearly

double that working out on

rowing machines as part of

their regular PE programme.

The project started with

secondary schools in March

but due to the two short

school terms, it extended to

some primary schools also

for the month of June.

Over the Summer, the

scheme ran a Get

Going...Get Rowing camp

for kids with Dyspraxia in

conjunction with the

Dyspraxia Association of

Ireland. This included two

days on the ergometer and

a further two days on the

river at Islandbridge. The

camps were also facilitated

by Dublin Municipal Rowing

Club. Dyspraxia tends to

affect gross motor skills and

therefore rowing is the

perfect movement for kids

who suffer from the

disability as it is a repetitive

movement that increases

proprioception abilities and

strengthens poor muscle

tone which is classic with

Dyspraxia.

In September the project

really got off the ground

with most of the schools

continuing from the last

years two short terms

before the summer break.

In the run-up to the

Halloween mid-term seven

schools are rowing in the

Dublin area as part of their

PE programme. Most classes

have a six week course of

indoor rowing as the

curriculum limits activities to

a six week block and the

students are really enjoying

the variety and the

opportunity to take part in a

sport which they may never

thought of before. All in all

the Get Going…Get Rowing

project is held in between

25-30 classes a week in

schools around Dublin.

49

The project has also

partnered with Carlow Youth

Services to develop a

programme for transition

year students in Carlow,

whereby the students are

trained up in introductory

coaching specific to Indoor

Rowing. Once qualified the

students will then roll out

the project to the first years

in their schools. On the 23rd

September 35 transition

year students par-took in

the first course and the

following week they were

qualified to give the classes

in their schools.

Over the next few weeks

nearly 500 first year

students in schools in

Carlow and Borris (feeder

school for Graignamanagh)

will take part in the initiative

and they will be then

encouraged to join their

local clubs. In addition to

this the clubs will benefit by

having their juniors (17

years and older) trained

already in introductory

coaching. A win-win

situation for everyone.

In Caritas College,

Ballyfermot in West Dublin,

the PE teacher Mary Ryan

has dedicated a specific

room for the ergometers.

The school did not have

resources for flooring in the

room, having previously

taken up a carpet and the

floor still had remaining glue

on it. Ms.Ryan visited all the

local builder providers and

eventually a local company

from Palmerstown put

flooring down free of

charge. FISA development

officer Sheila Stephen

facilitated the project in

sending a box of goodies

including a very colourful

flag from the 2006 Asian

Games in Doha which now

decorates the wall. The

room still needs new

windows but the school

have to wait for the shutters

to be installed so that the

windows can be fixed.

Typically Ballyfermot has

been a stronghold of rowing

in the Dublin clubs with

many members of Neptune

and Commercial originating

from Ballyfermot. Now with

the opening of the official

rowing room not only the

students are rowing but the

teachers now have a

Tuesday afternoon club, the

mothers row on a Monday

morning and the students

have also a supplementary

Wednesday afternoon club.

On the 22nd October the

first Get Going…Get Rowing

schools fun indoor and

outdoor regatta was held in

Islandbridge. With over 180

students taking part, it gave

kids the opportunity to

compete in an indoor

competition and on the

water. A great time was had

by all the students and

teachers involved. Many

pupils who have taken part

in the indoor event are now

eager to join clubs and get

on the water to experience

the “real thing”. For the

students that are rowing

already, it has given them

the opportunity to race

against schools of a similar

level to them and has given

them a sense of comradery

and participation.

The Get Going…Get Rowing

project has now another

new member of staff on

board with Jen Cunningham,

Connaught Development

Officer, joining the Rowing

Ireland team. It is hoped

that in the next year

students from Connaught

and Leinster will be able to

compete against each other

virtually through Rowpro

software, thus making the

project more interactive for

students and teachers alike.

Both projects are still in

their infancy and it will take

another term or two of

rowing before the clubs will

see the benefits of kids

rowing on the water.

If you require more

information on the Get

Going…Get Rowing project

in Leinster, please do not

hesitate to contact Michelle

Carpenter michelle.carpenter@rowingireland.ie

NG

By: Michelle Carpenter Leinster Women’s Development Officer

IRISH PROVINCES INDOOR ROWING

COMPETITION 2014

50

RO

WIN

G F

OR

EV

ERYO

NE

R OWfit are hosting an

Indoor Rowing Competition

with a difference on

November 22nd 2014. It’s

an indoor rowing

competition but not as you

know it.

As part of the IIRC Race

series the ‘PROVINCES IRC’

will be a pre-Christmas race

to whet the appetite for the

Irish Indoor Rowing

Championships in January

2015. Instead of 1st, 2nd &

3rd prizes per category, the

top scores from each

province per category will

receive the glory, adulation

and of course the shiny

medals. Best of these four

will also receive a tech tee

shirt.

It’s a concept designed to

develop inter-provincial

indoor rowing and a means

whereby other inter-

provincial racing can be

developed. For example,

concept 2 linked erg pairs

on slides will feature as an

invitation inter-provincial

race at the event. If your

club is interested in fielding

a crew to represent your

province then Joe is waiting

for your email. ROWfit will

lend you the slides if you

don’t already have them in

order that you might fully

prepare – you owe them a

crew (or crews) on the day

and it’s hoped that clubs will

begin to see the benefit of

using the slides in training,

as an excellent simulator for

on-the-water training. It’s

hoped to relocate the event

annually so that it really

does take in all the

provinces.

All the usual age and weight

categories will feature and

with 80+ of those

categories there’s surely

something to suit everyone.

IRISH PROVINCES INDOOR ROWING

COMPETITION 2014

51

We drew the line however

at a ‘Coaches Race’ as the

poor coaches have enough

to be doing on the day

anyway – and it might

scare them away!

As ever the IIRC Race

series supports the Rowing

Ireland Trialling Process.

This year we are re-

introducing the original free

-drag and free-rate rule in

accordance with

international Indoor Rowing

standards. The High

Performance Director

Morten Espersen has

created a detailed

document with his

requirements for HP

Athletes that intend

trialling. If you intend to

submit a time from the

PROVINCES please review

this document available on

the Rowing Ireland website.

ROWfit recently sprung for

a fancy new website

www.iirc.ie where you can

find schedules, info

documents, Frequently-

asked-questions (and some

answers), form, prices and

most importantly where

you can REGISTER. All

clubs should have received

some posters by now (if

not get in contact) and

discounts apply to group

entries. Entries close on

November 12th and must be

made via the online

registration system on

www.iirc.ie or make contact

with info@rowfit.ie if you or

your club wish to make

other arrangements.

We look forward to seeing

you all.

Joe Cantillon

52

RO

WIN

G F

OR

EV

ERYO

NE

2014 was another hugely

successful year for coastal rowing in Ireland. Clubs

from Cork, Kerry, Wicklow, Wexford, Dublin, Antrim and Donegal held their

Championship regattas throughout the summer

months and the season ended with the All-Ireland Coastal Rowing

Championships in Waterville, Co. Kerry from

the 15th-17th August, jointly hosted by all clubs of the Kerry Coastal Rowing

Association. Over 2,700 rowers took part in the

races over the weekend, as well as many others

coaching, coxing, volunteering, spectating and supporting the event. See

results overleaf. The 2015 All-Ireland Coastal Rowing

Championships will return to Waterville in August next year.

The World Rowing Coastal

Championships took place in Thessaloniki, Greece, from the 16th-19th October. 11

rowers and two coxes made up the five crews that

represented Ireland at the event with rowers travelling from Cork and Arklow.

Crews had to row a 4km course which included five

turns.

Heats for the Irish crews were held on Friday the

17th where calm conditions and 20 degree heat

welcomed the rowers.

Courtmacsherry Rowing

Club, which is based in West Cork, had two crews at the

Championships. The first of these and the first Irish crew to take to the water

were the rowers from the Senior Men’s silver medallist

crew from the All-Ireland Coastal Rowing Championships. Joe

O’Leary, Denis Griffin, Daniel Whelton and Damien

O’Leary, coxed by Brian Whelton, swapped their usual sweep oars for a set

of sculls to take to the water in the Men’s Coxed

Quadruple. They rowed in the first of two heats where

they came 10th in a time of 17:30:13, booking a place

in the B Final.

The club’s under 21 crew of Alan Creedon, James

Holland, Andrew Flynn and Gerard Sexton, coxed by Fiona Hurley, competed in

the second heat of the Men’s Coxed Quadruple

race. They finished in 12th place to also book a place in

the B Final.

Arklow Rowing Club’s Cormac Kelly represented

Ireland in the first heat of the Men’s Single Sculls race. He came 11th in a time of

21:34:87 to secure a place

in the B Final.

Kilmacsimon Rowing Club, which is also based in West Cork, had two rowers taking

part in the Championships. The first of these, John

Keohane, rowed in the

second heat of the Men’s Single Sculls race. He

finished in a very strong second place in a time of 19:24:17. This meant that

John was the only Irish rower to book a place in an

A Final.

Laura O’Neill of Kilmacsimon Rowing Club

was the final Irish rower to take to the water on Friday.

She rowed in the second heat of the Women’s Single Sculls race and finished 7th

in a time of 23:20:78, just missing out on a place in

the A Final, but making it

into the B Final.

Saturday was the day for finals for the Irish rowers. After experiencing such nice

conditions in their heats the day before, the weather had

changed for the worse overnight and rowers were met with much choppier

waters on Saturday. This impacted the rowers

greatly, with only two crews

finishing their races.

The Men’s Coxed Quadruple

B Final was the first race of the day. With two strong

crews in this race, Courtmacsherry were looking to perform well. The

Senior Men’s crew were doing very well, coming in

third position but unfortunately they had to abandon the race after an

oar lock broke.

COASTAL ROWING Irish Coastal Rowing

Federation—the

Coastal Division of

Rowing Ireland

53

RACE 1ST 2ND 3RD

FISA Singles Ladies Kilmacsimon Arklow (A) Arklow (B)

FISA Singles Men Arklow (A) Kilmacsimon (A) Kilmacsimon (B)

Seine Boats Valentia (A) Knockeen Sneem

Open Classic Ladies Myross Cairndhu Castletownbere

Open Classic Men Myross Castletownbere Carnlough

Cork Yawl Ladies Whitegate Galley Flash Kilmacsimon

Cork Yawl Men Whitegate Ring Rushbrooke

Heritage Race Ladies Sneem Killurin St. Kearns (A)

Heritage Race Men St. Patricks (A) Cahersiveen St.Michaels

Masters Ladies Kilmacsimon Galley Flash Callinafercy

Masters Men Templenoe Myross Cairndhu

Veteran Ladies Whitegate Callinafercy (A) Myross

Mixed Veterans Portmagee Myross Templenoe (B)

Veteran Men Portmagee Myross Passage West

U12 Girls Portmagee Passage West Sive

U12s Courtmacsherry (A) Passage West (B) Myross

U14 Girls Whitegate (A) Ring (A) Templenoe (B) - joint 2nd

U14 Cairndhu (A) Courtmacsherry (A) Killorglin

U16 Girls Kilmacsimon Myross Caherdaniel

U16 Killorglin Kilmacsimon (A) Sive

U18 Ladies Sneem Fossa Valentia

U18 Passage West Killorglin Galley Flash

U21 Ladies Killorglin Ring Fossa

U21 Whitegate Templenoe Galley Flash

Pre-Vet Ladies Arklow Myross Workmens

Pre-Vet Men Killorglin (B) Courtmacsherry Whitegate

Pre-Vet Mixed Portmagee Passage West Galley Flash

Senior Mixed Killorglin Kilmacsimon Courtmacsherry

Intermediate Ladies Passage West Whitegate East Ferry

Intermediate Men Cahersiveen Whitegate Arklow

Junior Ladies Galley Flash Arklow Courtmacsherry

Junior Men Ring Passage West Kilmacsimon

Senior Ladies Killorglin Sneem Arklow

Senior Men Killorglin Courtmacsherry Kilmacsimon

The under 21 crew

continued to battle the elements however, and

finished in 12th position in a time of 28:08:91. Cormac Kelly of Arklow was up next

in the B Final of the Men’s Single Sculls. In a time of

34:35:69, he finished the race in a strong 6th position,

leaving two boats behind

him.

As conditions started to

deteriorate even further, the Women’s Single Sculls B Final was up next. After

capsizing twice before the start line, Laura O’Neill

made the sensible decision to not start the race. John

Keohane followed suit in the

Men’s Single Sculls A Final and chose not to risk the

conditions.

Although the weather and other factors did go against

some of the Irish rowers and crews, they should all

be very proud of their

achievements.

Results of the

2014 All-Ireland

Coastal Rowing

Championships

54

RO

WIN

G F

OR

EV

ERYO

NE

Saturday 30th May 2015, Cork Harbour, Ireland

Hello from the Ocean to City team,

The season is slowly coming to its end and many boaties are

already packing up the oars and paddles for winter. Some of

you however are hardy folk and insist on training throughout

the cold and dark winter months... whichever way works for

you, here at Ocean to City HQ, plans are already in motion for

next summer's Rás Mór. As many of you know, our 2014 race

broke all the records... and, call us crazy, but we'd like to do

the same again in 2015!

There are many reasons why next year should be an even

bigger happening. For one, Cork will celebrate its 10th

anniversary since our designation as European Capital of

Culture (2005) and Ocean to City, as one of its very few

legacy events, will fly the flag! Secondly, we have now

officially entered into our second decade of existence and are

going from strength to strength. But ultimately, isn't it all just

about getting as many people on the water as possible and

having a hoolie?

Ok, (soppy-alert) call us nuts but we believe that rowers and

paddlers (yes, you) can make this world a better place. Not

only because you positively interact with our waterways and

help to keep our martime culture alive, but also because you

do what you love and inspire others around you to engage

with the outdoors; our rivers, coastal areas and the

environment. Maith thú!

So... next year's Ocean to City - An Rás Mór is taking place on

Saturday 30th May 2015 and we would LOVE for you to join

us.

OCEAN TO CITY

AN RÁS MÓR 2015

55

Long courses, shorter courses, relays, big boats, small

boats, hundreds of other participants... it's all part of Ocean

to City! To find out more about the race see

www.oceantocity.com. As usual we will publish details of

our early bird registration offer, transport and

accommodation deals at the start of the New Year.

For now, we would be delighted if you could pencil Saturday

30th May 2015 into your calendar and tell all of those

around you. For any further information, please don't

hesitate to contact us.

We hope you can join us in Cork next year and look forward

to seeing you then.

www.oceantocity.com info@oceantocity.com

56

TWIT

TER

PH

OTO

S

57

THANK YOU TO ROWING

IRELAND SPONSORS

Special thank you for support

at the Irish Championships

Special thank you to Tony Dooley

of Filippi for Grand League prizes

SPO

NSO

RS

53

Rowing Ireland

National Rowing Centre

Farran Wood

Ovens

Co. Cork

T: +353 21 743 4044

F: +353 21 743 4045

E: info@rowingireland.ie

W: www.rowingireland.ie

Rowing Ireland

@RowingIreland