12-07-2025
Methody and Queen's to the fore at Irish Rowing Championships
The women's junior double scull was a tremendous contest which ended in a photo finish and a win by a tenth of a second for Romilly Danes and Sophia Young of Methodist College, Belfast.
Skibbereen's Abigail Fowler and Aoife Hendy pushed into the lead; Methody tracked them down the course.
The final 500 metres was fascinating: Methody pushed and gained overlap. Skibbereen met the challenge. Twice more Methody pushed, gaining each time. They took the lead for the first time with the surge over the line. The margin was one tenth of a second.
Young, who will partner Hendy in the Ireland double at the Under-19 World Championships early next month, broke into a huge grin at the finish.
In the very next race, Queen's A were quite dominant in the men's novice coxed quadruple – they won by a distance and their B crew took second place.
The Belfast university also added the women's novice coxed quadruple – and again they won by a big margin.
The west and the south came roaring back through young talent.
Jack Rafferty has some engine.
The man from St Michael's of Limerick went through a time trial, a heat and a final to win the junior 18 single on Friday – and then did it again on Saturday as stroke of the men's quadruple.
While he was in control for much of the race in the single, this time St Michael's moved through Cappoquin in the middle of the race and then powered on to win.
UCC, stroked by Olympian Margaret Cremen, saw off all comers in the women's senior quadruple, while Zach Meegan gave University of Galway their second Championship title of the weekend with a fine win in the intermediate single.
Cork Boat Club retained the men's senior pair. Fionnán Tolan and Barry O'Flynn, rowing as Cork B, were up against Olympic medallist Daire Lynch and his partner Michael Campion, but it was the strong Cork crew who took the honours.
They held a slender lead in the middle stages, and UCD then drew level. But it was Tolan and O'Flynn who took control and drove on to take it by over 11 seconds.
Trinity took the women's intermediate pair in remarkable style. Adelaide Telzrow and Maria Mezquita Garcia-Poggio never looked threatened and even as the crews tightened up at the finish they had an eight-second winning margin.
