New Ross junior rowers triumph at premier national event – ‘We are incredibly proud of them'

Irish Independent

5 days ago

Competing against the best crews in Ireland, the club's young athletes delivered impressive performances in both the boys' and girls' junior events. Their skill, teamwork, and resilience were on full display as they achieved a commendable 20th place in the club trophy. This was doubly impressive considering New Ross's rowing team was much smaller than most of the other 46 clubs competing.
The first New Ross victory was delivered on Saturday afternoon where Katey Nolan (Bow) and Janey Cashman (Stroke) stormed to victory in the Junior Girls 14s 2x. Nolan and Cashman lead from the off after a fantastic start and stride put them in control before the 250m mark. There was clear water between them and the competition at the halfway mark and from there the New Ross girls crew upped the power to dominate the race from start to finish, winning by a distance and leaving all other boats in their wake.
The next victory came on Sunday morning, when Katie Nolan, rowing up an age-group in the Junior Girls J15 single scull, took to the water. Katie was in control of the race from the first stroke and by the 500m mark had a canvas lead on her nearest rivals. In the second half when Nolan increased the rate and upped the power, she began to stretch out to a boat length lead as the finish line approached and further extended that in the to put clear water between her boat and the Enniskillen sculler that placed second by the time the hooter sounded. Nolan also placed 3rd in u14 single scull to cap off a great weekend for the New Ross oarswoman.
New Ross's final win of the event was delivered by Niamh Brennan (Bow) and Janey Cashman (Stroke) in a thrilling Junior Girls J15 2x final. Brennan not long off the water, after a great 2nd place finish in her single scull, teamed up with Cashman who was rowing up an age-group to complete the New Ross crew. Another fast start from New Ross ensured they were in control of the race right from the stakeboat. The New Ross crew never looked under pressure and had clear water between themselves and the competition by the halfway point. Not content with that, Brennan and Cashman increased their stroke rate above 40 stroke per minute to power home with clear water between them and the other crews in the race for an impressive victory.
There were also commendable debut performances by Junior boys Cormac Crotty, Henry Roche and Aogán Slater in a single and double scull respectively. Crotty put in a great performance to finish 4th place in the Boys Junior 15 single scull, finishing very strong in an exciting and close race finish. Roche and Slater teamed up for a fantastic first regatta outing in the double scull. The crew got off to a great start and battled hard down the course against a crew from Bann Rowing club and were just pipped on the line for a 6th place finish.
New Ross Boat Club Masters section also travelled in force to Lough Rinn and there were some commendable finishes with Stephen Ryan coming 3rd in his category of the Men's Masters Single Scull while Ger Morey (bow) and Paula Whelan (stroke) gelled well to finish a praiseworthy 3rd place in their category of the Women's Masters Double Scull.
'We are incredibly proud of our rowers and their achievements at the Rowing Ireland 1k Classic. Thank you to all the coaches, parents and safety boat drivers who helped the team prepare. It was great to see New Ross represented so well at one of the premium Rowing Ireland regattas.' said Amy O'Hanlon, Captain, New Ross Boat Club. Adding to the Captain's comments, coach Ger Morey said: 'Its just so great to see the kids enjoying themselves and achieving their goals after putting in so much hard work throughout the year.'
The Chairperson of New Ross Boat Club, Sean Sutton, also commended the members on their recent success and said: 'Janey, Katie and Niamh performed superbly to combined for three victories. The girls have worked hard in training and deserve huge credit for their achievements.'
"There was also fantastic debut by Cormac in his single scull and both Aogan and Henry can be very proud of their performance on their debut in the double scull,' he added.
New Ross Boat Club Full Results from 1k Classic:
1st place in Girls J15 1x, Final 7: K. Nolan
1st place in Girls J14 2x, Final 4: K. Nolan (Bow), J. Cashman (Stroke)
1st place in Girls J15 2x, Final 2: N. Brennan (Bow), J. Cashman (Stroke)
2nd place in Girls J15 1x, Final 8: N. Brennan
3rd place in Girls J14 1x, Final 1: K. Nolan
3rd place in Men's Masters 1x, Final G: S. Ryan
3rd place in Women's Masters 2x, Final D: G. Morey (Bow), P. Whelan (Stroke)
3rd place in Mixed Masters 8+, Final 3: F. Sutton (Bow), U. Quirke (2), M. Dwyer (3), D. Roche (4), A. Dwyer (5), L. Gibbons (6), R. Hayes (7), S. Ryan (Stroke), K. Nolan (Cox)
4th place in Boys J15 1x, Final 4: C. Crotty
4th place in Women's Masters 4x+: R. Hayes (Bow), M. Dwyer (2), D. Roche (3), D. MacCarthy (Stroke), J. Cashman (Cox)
5th place in Women's Masters 4x+: F. Sutton (Bow), U. Quirke (2), A. Dwyer (3), T. Doran (Stroke), J. Cashman (Cox)
5th place in Mixed Masters 4x+, Final 1: F. Sutton (Bow), D. Roche (2), D. MacCarthy (3), T. Doran (Stroke), J. Cashman (Cox)
6th place in Boys J15 2x, Final 7: A. Slater (Bow), H. Roche (Stroke)
6th place in Women's Masters 4x-, Final A-B-C: P. Whelan (Bow), L. Gibbon (2), G. Morey (3), A. O'Hanlon (Stroke)