Offaly Rowing Club Win In Castleconnell Sprints And Athlone Regatta
Thursday, 1 July 2010
Winner of the novice single scull in Athlone Regatta F. O’Connor.
IT has been a busy two weeks for Offaly Rowing Club competing in Castleconnell Sprints in Limerick and in Athlone Regatta at Coosan Point, Athlone. The mens junior 18b quadruple scull won their first rowing race at Castleconnell while Fergal O' Connor won his first race at Athlone Regatta in the mens novice single scull category.
Castleconnell sprints was held on the 20th July on the Lower River Shannon in Limerick over a 500m course. Sarah Duffy raced in the novice single sculls, Claire Mangan in the Junior 15 single scull, Leah Maher junior 14 single scull and the junior 15 quadruple scull of Nicole Finlay, Rachel Abraham, Claire Mangan, Leah Moran coxed by Kaylin Moran. In her first rowing race Sarah Duffy had a good row but didn't make it to the finals. Claire Mangan came third in her heat and made it into the final. Leah Maher was entered against 16 other scullers and did not make it into the final. The quadruple scull also made it through their heat but were unable to claim first place in the final.
There was mixed success for the Offaly men at Castleconnell. At junior 14 Karl Jordan and James Peters represented the club in both the double scull and single scull categories. The double scull got through to the final. Racing in separate heats of the single scull category only James Peters made it through the heats to the finals.
For Fergal O' Connor Castleconnell Sprints was his first race in the single scull. Although Fergal had a great start steering difficulties prevented him finishing his race. In his second race of the season Patrick Walshe had a good solid row coming third in his heat and just missing qualification for the finals. In their first race in the double scull Mantas Pukelis and James Houlihan had a fantastic finish for second place.
The junior 18 quadruple scull of Mantas Pukelis, Anthony Gannon, Jamie Adams, James Houlihan and cox Kaylin Maher, had another close race, winning by three inches.
Athlone Regatta on the 26th was held over 1700m course on the middle reaches of Lough Ree at Coosan Point. The weather was very good but a strong cross wind in the afternoon made racing difficult for some crews. Offaly womens crews included the junior 15 quadruple quad of Nicole Finlay, Claire Mangan, Leah Maher, Claire Maher and cox James Peters with Eimear and Joanne Moran racing in the senior single sculls. For the junior 15 womens quad, the full brunt of the cross wind in lane 5 proved too challenging for the crew who did not make it beyond their heat. In the womens senior single sculls, which was a straight final, Eimear and Joanne finished third and fourth respectively.
The Offaly junior men performed well in their events. Maurice Harnett won through two rounds to make it to the final of the junior 18 sculls, and was a little off the pace, having had a slow start in the final. David McCabe raced in the intermediate sculls, and despite racing well did not make it to the final. The novice quad of Mantas Pukelis, Anthony Gannon, Jamie Adams, James Houlihan coxed by Conor O'Brien, raced their rivals Carrick on Shannon. They found the conditions tricky but held on for second place. Mantas Pukelis and James Houlihan won their heat in the junior double scull, and were second in the final to a Neptune crew.
Four single scullers raced at junior 16. Patrick Grogan, Jamie Adams, Cathal Phelan and John Neale, raced in a field of twenty scullers, but were not able to make the final. In the junior 15 double scull, Patrick Grogan and Patrick Walsh were not able to stay with the pace in the heat this time, but will improve in the future. James Peters and Karl Jordan raced in the junior 14 double scull. The crew struggled with the conditions in the final and did not perform as well as they might have. In the second last race of the day, Fergal O'Connor raced strongly to win the novice sculls by a margin of three lengths from Neptune, having comfortably won the heat.
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