Galway RC crews claim eight titles at nationals

Galway Rowing Club picked up eight titles at the Irish National Rowing Championships in Cork at the weekend, winning seven titles at junior grade, as well as capturing a novice Irish championship title. 

The first row of the regatta for the club was on Thursday in the Men’s J14 quad, with the crew of Fionn O’Higgins (cox), Harry Goonan (stroke), Daragh Duffy, Shane Pagden and Ciaran McNamara finishing a strong second against Clonmel, losing by just four feet in what was their first appearance in a major championship.The first win for the club came later that day with a win in the Men’s J16 8, justifying the high hopes the club had after a successful season at the grade.

It proved to be one of the thrilling races of the day, with the top clubs in Ireland competing , but by the 1,000 metre mark it was clear the win was going to Galway, with the Bish and Galway the two crews to the fore, Galway leading by a quarter of a length.

Galway extended their lead to one length by the 1,500m mark, which they extended all the way to the finish line leaving the other crews to fight for the remaining places. The winning crew was Ross Madden (cox), Nathan Collins (stroke), Alan Murtagh, David Laffey, Martin Laffey, Michael Flaherty, Chris Laffey, Gary Cooney and Connor Curran.

This was followed by a thrilling final of the Women’s novice 4 with a strong field of Queens University, Garda, Shannon, NUI Galway and Galway RC. NUIG were leading at the half-way stage, enjoying a one length advantage over Galway, but Galway battled over the final 1,000 metres and in a tight finish, just pipped the NUIG crew by one second. The Galway crew were Afric O’Regan (cox), Fiona Murtagh (stroke), Kellie Wade, Cara Cunningham and Ruth Cummins.

Next it was the turn of the Women’s J14 sculls with Claire Caulfield and Tara Diviney representing Galway RC, and in a great race, Caulfield came in ahead of the pack to take the title.

The last race of the day for the club was the Men’s novice 8, which saw the honours go to Trinity, with UCD second and Galway RC - with an average age of just 16 - finishing third. The Galway crew was Ross Madden (cox), Nathan Collins (stroke), Alan Murtagh, David Laffey, Martin Laffey, Shane Walsh, Chris Laffey, Gary Cooney and Connor Curran.

Friday saw the club’s Women’s J14 4x+ of Victoria Molloy (cox), Claire Caulfield (stroke), Kellie Ann Folan, Tara Diviney, Ruth Elwood finish a close second to Lee RC by half a length; while the club’s Mens Master 4+ of Malcolm Hosty, Kevin Garvey, Tom Elwood, Sean Heaney and Afric O’Regan (cox) lost out to a strong Commercial/Belfast composite crew.

Galway had two crews in the final of a very competitive Men’s Senior 2- race, but both the A crew of Niall Hogan and Paul O’Brien, and the B crew of Danny O’Dowd and Richard Hardy, were beaten to the title by St Michaels.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.