Offaly Rowers take clean sweep at Carlow Regatta
Offaly Rowing Club news
Carlow Rowing Club on the river Barrow was the venue on Sunday last as Offaly Rowing Club continued their busy summer regatta schedule.
Carrying on from their previous outings, it was another hugely successful event for the club with plenty of gold medals coming back down the N80 on Sunday evening.
Not for the first time this year, it was the J15 (Under 15) rowers who led the way and pulled off some fantastic results.
In fact, it was a clean sweep of the U15 division for the four Offaly lads. Finn Lowry, David Mooney, Caden Coleman and Ben O’Grady all took home three gold medals as they each won their single and double race before combining and putting the icing on the cake and taking home gold in the quad.
All four lads won their single races in the morning with relative ease while Lowry and Coleman teamed up to win their double along with Mooney and O’Grady who also did their business in their double skull.
However, there can be no doubt about the race of the day. Drawn against Castleconnell in a tough semi final in the J15 quad, the four lads needed all of their power and fitness to get the job done by three lengths.
Moving on to the final, the lads faced the tricky task of only having about 20 minutes recovery before having to take to the water to take on Waterford in the final.
On a very tricky course with no shortage of bends, they were expertly coxed by Martha O’Grady who kept them on their toes and out of trouble.
The final was neck and neck from start to finish and with 100 metres to go, it looked like fatigue might catch up with them but in typical Offaly spirit, they never gave in and gave one final, almighty surge to take victory on the line by millimetres.
The victories didn’t stop there as Master rowers Adele O’Dwyer and Elma Ravenhill rowed extremely well to take victory in the Masters doubles before O’Dwyer also took home gold in her singles race.
Martha O’Grady, who coxed the J15 quad earlier in the day, also had a notable victory as she won her first singles race, winning her J18 semi final. It wasn’t to be for her in the final but her semi final win was still a big achievement.
The rowers were also helped by some expert advice from the bank with John Ward, Ronan Coleman, Baithen Mooney and Adele O’Dwyer proving crucial in keeping the rowers on the right line and navigating one of the trickier courses on the regatta schedule.
Offaly’s next outing will be on Saturday 13th June when they take the rare short trip to Athlone who will host their regatta in Coosan.