The summer racing season has been an exciting one for Queen’s athletes on multiple different fronts. From national team selections to Irish Championship wins.
Post BUCS regatta the clubs prepared for the release of a documentary that many athletes have been working on, covering the season up to BUCS regatta. It went down a big hit and has done a great job of illustrating the hard graft put in by the athletes day in day out.
Crew formation then took place for the big summer regattas with a particular focus on Henley Women’s Regatta for the ladies club. We had 5 boats entered and all 6 managed to qualify via time trial into the regatta proper. This included 2 development 4’s – a category which we had never qualified a single boat for before. The coxless 4 racing in aspirational academic won their first race against Univ. of Birmingham before being beaten by a classy Dutch crew but not without a spirited performance in the quarter finals. Sam McCormick competed in a composite double with Amy Barrett (Univ. of Limerick) and also found success in the early rounds before being beaten in a tight race by the finalists. Molly Curry was the highlight of the weekend, making the semi finals and setting up the opportunity to race Olympic Gold Medalist – Imogen Grant. Molly put in a brave performance and led to the barrier. A massive achievement when racing an Olympian!
There was also strong performances at Cork Regatta on the same weekend, which left the club well placed ahead of the championships just a couple of weeks away. 3 wins in W Club 2x, W Nov 4x+ and M Nov 4x+ plus a whole host of promising results set the club on a positive trajectory towards the championships.
Meanwhile, Konan Pazzaia had been competing in the Irish Men’s double at both the European Championships and the World Cups. Coming away with a bronze medal on both occasions. These were Konan’s first senior international medals and highlight his hard work and determination over a number of years. Konan then went to race the Queen Mother Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta in a composite crew with his Irish teammates. They overturned a Dutch National Team Quad before being beaten by the British Quad in the semi finals. A great result for a new combination!
A number of our athletes have also been involved in the U23 trialling process with Amilia McAleer being selected for both the Home International Regatta (4- and 8+) as well as for the U23 European Championships in the Czech Republic in September.
The clubs focus then turned to the Irish National Championships. With a good block of training behind our athletes spirits were high and that showed over the weekend with plenty of crews racing multiple events and making finals. We started well on the Friday with a win for Molly and Amilia in the W Intermediate 2x, before our novices won both Novice 4x+ events in commanding style, including a 1/2 in the M Nov 4x+ on Saturday.
Sunday brought a couple more opportunities to take home a coveted pot and it was the Novice Men’s 8+ that provided the drama. In a 1 on 1 final against UCD, Queen’s took an early lead of about 1/2 a length. UCD threw numerous pushes and moves over the 2k but the boys showed great resilience responding all the way down the track and took home the win by 2/3 of a length. This was their tightest race of the season and means that they went the entire season undefeated in the 8+. 4 National Titles were brought back to Belfast, the most at one championships in recent memory.
These results are exciting not just in the here and now but also for the future of the club. It is now time for some rest and recuperation for the athletes and coaches ahead of an exciting 25/26 season.
We wish all our graduating athletes all the best for the future and hope to see them getting involved with Lady Victoria in the near future. Please keep an eye out for athletes from Queen’s competing internationally over the summer with Konan Pazzaia and Nathan Timoney hoping to earn selection for the World Championships in Shanghai in September. As well as for Amilia McAleer at U23 Europeans and our group of men’s club athletes targeting EUSA in Poland in September.
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