Senior, Intermediate and Club Eights wins at Cork Regatta

UCD won the Leander Trophy for Mens Senior 8+ at Cork Regatta for the first time since 1971 with wins also coming in Mens Intermediate 8+ and Mens Club 2 8+.

Two UCD Senior combinations raced Mens Division 1 2- with David O’Malley and Shane Mulvaney progressing to the A final where they lined up against the current Lightweight European Champions Shane O’Driscoll and Mark O’Donovan from Skibbereen. The UCD duo produced a strong performance against established opposition, finishing 2nd by 3.5 seconds and well clear of 3rd.

Mens Division 1 4+ contained two UCD Senior crews with both qualifying for the A Final. In the final NUIG were quick off the blocks gaining a 2 length lead on the field inside the first 500m. UCD were in the chasing pack over the rest of the course but NUIG were able to hold the majority of their advantage. They finished 4 seconds clear of 2nd placed Shandon with 1 second back to Cork and another second back to UCD B, who had pulled clear of UCD A in the final stages.

Mens Division 2 8+ saw UCD’s Novices race at Club 2 where they were convincing winners, finishing 14 seconds clear of Shandon’s J16 crew in 2nd and 19 seconds clear of the other Novice entry, from Trinity.

In the Mens Division 1 4x UCD’s Andrew Goff and Shane O’Connell raced with fellow Irish U23 Lightweight squad members to comfortably win the category. Andrew went on to join up with Commercial’s Niall Beggan in the Mens Division 1 2x to give Skibbereen’s O’Donovan brothers a good battle, finishing 2nd by 2 seconds and 10 seconds clear of Skibbereen’s Shane O’Driscoll and Mark O’Donovan.

Mens Division 1 8+ contained UCD entries in Intermediate and Senior with both crews comfortably qualifying for the A final. There they came up against Senior and Intermediate crews from NUIG and a Club 1 crew from Cork Boat Club with Commercial’s Intermediates scratching.

The two Senior crews bolted off the start and were neck and neck down the course with UCD taking the decisive lead in the last 500m to win by ⅓ length and claim the Leander Trophy for the first time since 1971.

The UCD Intermediate crew stayed with the pack and coming out of the first 500m pushed away from NUIG Intermediate crew next to them. However Cork Boat Club put in a very strong performance and the two crews battled it out down the course. Having pushed early on in the race UCD held them off just long enough to make it to the finish line in 3rd position and take the Intermediate title.

Full results at Rowing Ireland.