Lagan Head, 16/02/13
Saturday, February 16th saw clear, dry conditions for the biggest head race on the Lagan for the season.
As well as the always strong turnout from local and provincial clubs, there was a considerable presence of southern clubs on the water this year, including crews competing for Neptune, Trinity College Dublin and Commercial Boat Club.
The first race of the day was the small boats race, commencing at 11:30am, with the Queen’s Men’s Club producing four pairs all entered at Senior Level and one Senior Single Scull. The ‘A’ pair put in a top performance, finishing third overall and winning the category of Men’s Senior Pair, with a time of 11:35.1. The next Queen’s Boat was the ‘C’ pair which finished sixth with a time of 12:01.6, who had a close lead over the ‘D’ pair which finished seventh with a time of 12:22.7. The Men’s Senior single scull raced by Rory O’ Connor was next, finishing in ninth place with a time of 12:26.6, making him the fastest sculler of the race. The next quickest Queen’s boat was the Senior ‘E’ pair, which finished twenty-first, with a time of 13:10.1.
The Ladies club produced a total of five boats for the small boats race; Ladies Intermediate Coxed Four suffered a defeat to Commercial for the title of fastest Ladies Intermediate Four, finishing twenty eighth with a time mof 13:22.4, being beaten by sixteen seconds. The Ladies Novice Coxed Four put in a brilliant performance, finishing thirtieth with a time of 13:29.6, winning the crew the title of fastest Ladies Novice Coxed Four and just seven seconds behind the Intermediate four.
Aoife Leahy put in a strong performance in the Ladies Intermediate Single Scull category, finishing fifty-first with a time of 14:41.1, making her the fastest Ladies Sculler in the race. The Ladies ‘B’ senior pair was the quickest Ladies pair of the race, finishing fifty-fourth with a time of 14:57.0, who were closely followed by the ‘A’ senior pair who finished fifty-seventh with a time of 15:19.5.
The large boats race began at 3pm later in the day, with the Men’s Club producing an Intermediate Eight being raced in the Senior Eight category and two Novice Eights. Unfortunately there was a pre-race crash between the Queen’s Senior Men’s Eight and a Portadown Men’s Intermediate coxed four, the damage fromwhich made holes in both boats, rendering them un-race able as well as causing a leg injury to the stroke-man of the Portadown four, Matthew Dowdeswell. Fortunately no-one else was injured and Matthew’s injury was not life-threatening and he is currently recovering. The crew of the Queen’s Boat involved in the collision has taken the necessary steps to send best wishes to Matthew in recovering from his injury.
The Men’s Novice ‘A’ Eight put in a stellar performance finishing fifth overall with a time of 16:36.1, winning the title of fastest Men’s Novice Eight and keeping at bay the competition from their Lagan rivals, the BRC Novice Eight, by twelve seconds. The Men’s Novice ‘B’ eight also put in a great performance, finishing thirteenth with a time of 17:27.6.
The Ladies club produced four eights and one coxless four; The Ladies Intermediate Eight was the fastest Ladies Intermediate Eight of the day, finishing eighteenth with a time of 18:09.1. The Novice ‘A’ Eight put in another great performance with a time of 19:00.2, finishing twenty-second. The Ladies Novice ‘C’ Boat finished thirty-first with a time of 20:55.4 and the Novice ‘B’ boat finished closely behind with a time of 21:17.2, finishing thirty-third. The Ladies Senior coxless four had a disappointing row, finishing thirty-sixth with a time of 22:07.6.
Well done to all crews Queen’s crews racing and a big thank you to all organizers of the race.
Erne Head, 02/03/13
On Saturday, March 2nd, the club travelled to Enniskillen for one of the most crucial Head Races on the Irish Rowing Calendar, Erne Head.
The Men’s Club entered their Senior Eight and its two Novice Eights. Two members of the Men’s Senior Squad originally intended to race in the eight were unfortunately recovering from injuries during the training period leading up to the race, thus two members of the Club’s intermediate squad were given the chance to step in to race.
The Men’s Senior Eight had a disappointing race, finishing third overall with a time of 19:49, being beaten by the UCD Senior Eight who finished second and the NUIG/Grainne Mhaol/St. Joseph’s composite Senior Eight, who finished first.
The Men’s Novice ‘A’ Eight put in a solid performance, finishing fourteenth overall with a time of 21:23. This put them in third place in the Men’s Novice Eight category, narrowly being beaten by the Trinity Novice Eight who finished second and UCD who finished third.
The Men’s Novice ‘B’ Boat raced hard, finishing twenty-fifth with a time of 22:36, one minute and sixteen seconds behind the ‘A’ boat.
Erne has always been a good test for the club and this year has provided a mixed bag of results for the men’s club, but is something to be pushed on from as the Senior Men prepare for London and the Novice Men set out their goals for later races in the season.
The Ladies Club raced in the Intermediate Eight and three Novice Eights. The Intermediate Eight had a shock loss to the Bann Ladies Intermediate Eight, who the Queen’s Ladies had previously beaten at Lagan Head but who now proved to be the victors of the Fastest Ladies Intermediate Eight crew title, with Queen’s Ladies finishing thirty-seventh with a time of 23:51, seven seconds behind the Bann Eight.
Success was found once more with the Ladies ‘A’ Novice Eight, who finished forty-seventh with a time of 25:11, the fastest time for a Novice Ladies Eight in the race. The ‘B’ and ‘C’ Ladies Novice Eights also raced well, with the ‘B’ boat finishing fifty-fourth with a time of 26:48 and the ‘C’ boat finishing sixty-second with a time of 29:55.
Similarly to the Men’s Club, Erne has been a good proving ground for the Queen’s Ladies; their very narrow losses and good wins can prove as good turning points to push on from.
Well done to all of the Queen’s crews racing at Erne Head.
London WEHORR, 09/03/13
The Queen’s Ladies club raced their Ladies Intermediate Eight and Novice ‘A’ Eight at one of the biggest Ladies Head Races in the World last Saturday, March 9th, the seventy-third Women’s Eights Head of the River Race.
Both crews, entered at ‘Elite’ level brought their ‘A’ games and raced hard to prove their worth on the Thames River, among three hundred and six Ladies Eights in total.
The Ladies Intermediate Eight finished with a good time of 20:24.89 and the Novice ‘A’ Eight finished with a superb time of 20:42.82, particularly good for a Novice Crew. In racing as overseas crews, the Queen’s Ladies Eights were not listed in official times but comparatively would have finished 81st for the Ladies Intermediate Crew and 116th for the Novice ‘A’ Crew, which puts both crews well within the top half of all the crews racing.
Solid effort Ladies, well done Queen’s!
Upcoming Events, Races and Reminders
- London Head of the River, Saturday, March 23rd (Men’s Senior 8 competing)
- Irish Universities Championships, Inniscara, Cork, Saturday, April 13th
- Queen’s Regatta, Castlewellan, Saturday, April 27th
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