Galway Rowing Club crews shine at National Rowing Championships
Club claims gold in Junior 16 eights and also lands a number of silver medals
Galway Rowing Club’s Junior Girls squad achieved fantastic results at last weekend's National Rowing Championships in Cork.
While the weather at the National Rowing Centre was hot; the competition was even hotter; with
There were more than 1,000 entries vying for medals across all categories, with the Galway RC girls finishing with the remarkable record of a podium finish in six of the seven events in which they entered.
The highlight was a great win for the Junior 16 eight crew of Emily Boyle, Ella and Lily Couturier, Beatrice Kelly, Ciara McCallion, Ciara McMorrow, Lucy O’Connor, Una O'Dea and cox, Maebh Cooke, who produced one of the performances of the regatta to win their event by all of 17 seconds. Their coaches are Tom Elwood, Noel Stapleton, and Aidan Wade.
Other highlights included the silver medals achieved in both Women’s Junior 18 eights (Emily Boyle, Laura Carolan, Carragh Coffey, Ella and Lily Couturier, Ciara McCallion, Ciara McMorrow, and Ciara Stapleton with cox Maebh Cooke and coaches Tom Elwood and Noel Stapleton) and fours (Laura Carolan, Lily Couturier, Beatrice Kelly, and Ciara McMorrow, with Tom Elwood and Noel Stapleton as coaches).
In each case the Galway crews were edged out by Enniskillen Royal Boat Club’s all-conquering crews (in the case of the four by a very tight margin).
More than half of both these Galway crews being Junior 16 girls – rowing against girls who were two years older, and with a lot more experience, and it will be an experience that stands to them in the coming years.
Further silver medals were secured in Women’s Junior 16 fours (Emily Boyle, Ella Couturier, Ciara McCallion, and Ciara McMorrow, with Tom Elwood and Noel Stapleton as coaches and Maebh Cooke as cox); and Women’s Junior16 coxed quads (Emily Boyle, Ciara McCallion, Ciara McMorrow, and Una O'Dea, with Maebh Cooke as cox and a coaching team of Tom Elwood, Noel Stapleton, and Aidan Wade), the latter against a field of 25 other quads.
Finally, Junior 16 girls Beatrice Kelly and Lily Couturier performed remarkably well against experienced internationals to secure bronze in the Junior 18 pairs event.