After the relative disappointment of Lagan head two weeks ago the men’s squad bounced back well and got some great results today at Erne HOR. The men’s club 8 showed fantastic improvement, winning the club category in a time of 19:06 putting them in 7th place overall. Their time would have placed them second in the intermediate category, finishing 16 seconds behind the Trinity intermediate 8 that beat them by over a minute at Lagan Head. With more athletes due to return, this squad will only continue to strengthen as we approach the summer.
The novice men marked their first official race with a victory as the first 8 took the novice 8 pennant in a time of 20:57. With three novice 8s competing the strength in depth is very impressive and will definitely bear fruit as selection toughens up in the run in to the Irish University Championships.
For the Ladies Squad there was close competition in the Club 8 category with NUIG. They finished 2nd with a time gap of 20s. Tho disappointing, this gives a focus and target for the crew to work on in the coming weeks before the start of regatta season.
There was success for the novice women who took home a pennant, even after breaking a footplate and the steering, before the race had started.
This is the end of the winter head season. With upcoming events over easter, including University Championships and Skibbereen Regatta there is still lots of training to be done over the next month for all the crew. Focus will be out on improving boat speed and efficiency through the stroke!