Senior 8+ Champions of Ireland

The 2019 Irish Championships provided an excellent opportunity for the full depth of UCD’s squad to pit themselves against Ireland’s best, returning with three Championships including the ‘The Big Pot’ for Men’s Senior 8+.

A larger squad than previous seasons meant the 1st 8+ could focus on Senior events, with the 2nd 8+ taking on Intermediate and essentially the 3rd 8+ racing Club. While other strategies may have increased the chances of picking up silverware through the grades this route was chosen with the long term development of the squad in mind.

Over the weekend, the club defended its title in Mens Senior 4- and Mens Novice 8+ while adding the elusive Mens Senior 8+, a prize won by UCD just once in the preceding 45 years and a win that was many years in the making.

Matching last year with three Irish Championships was satisfying but more important were the performances across the board by each crew that took to the water in St. Patrick’s Blue and Saffron. The special squad atmosphere was palpable throughout the weekend with fantastic mutual support by all UCD crews, whatever the result.

Friday

Friday’s first race was the Mens Intermediate 4+, an event where the standard of competition continues to be very high. UCD progressed through their heat to the final but winners Cork Boat Club raced exceptionally well and College finished at the back of the field.

The Mens Novice 4x+ contained one UCD crew but their focus on the 8+ was evident as Queens powered to the win with College finishing 4th.

In the Mens Club 8+ heat UCD progressed as winners with the fastest time across the two heats, although it was clear that all finalists had another gear. Knowing the odds were stacked against them versus a strong Trinity crew UCD raced the final bravely, going toe to toe and fighting for the lead. In the 2nd half of the race the experience in the Trinity boat shone through and they took a lead. UCD had given their all and slipped back into 4th by the finish line. It was a disappointing result for a young and determined crew but as one member remarked, a more conservative race might have secured 2nd but they were proud to have given everything in search of 1st.

The last race was the Mens Senior 4-, attracting unusually few entries with just UCD A, UCD B and Enniskillen/Queens lining up on the start. UCD A, recent semi-finalists in Henley, were the defending champions and again displayed their talent to take a length lead by 1000m and build on it to the finish. UCD B raced well to secure 2nd place, perhaps a good omen for the Senior 8+ later in the weekend where the two crews would combine. It was also an historic achievement, being the first time UCD had defended the Senior 4- title.

Saturday

Saturday saw two UCD scullers, Andrew Mays in the Mens Club 2 1x and Mark Doyle in the Mens Intermediate 1x. A relative newcomer to sculling, Andrew rowed a smooth race but did not progress from the heat against more experienced opposition. Mark faced a daunting heat with two to qualify. Despite a recent lack of time in the boat, with the 8+ the focus, he raced well and finished 3rd, just a length off 2nd. As it happens the top two from his heat were the ones who battled it out for the win in the final.

The Mens Intermediate 8+ contained two UCD entries, the club’s 2nd and 3rd 8+ crews. UCD B had a good tussle with UCC in their heat but ultimately finished 4th and did not progress to the final. UCD A made it safely through their heat. The final contained Cork Boat Club, who were out to avenge last year’s narrow miss in this event, along with strong combinations from Trinity, Commercial and Shandon. UCD A managed to keep overlap with the leading crews to the first 500m but Cork were determined and ran out winners, with UCD finishing 5th.

The last race on Saturday was a pairs time trial for the Home Internationals. Three UCD crews competed with two selected for the race in Strathclyde – Andrew Kelly and Joe Ronaldson, and Sam Bolger and Ewan Jarvis – along with coach Niall Farrell.

Sunday

UCD’s first boat on Sunday was the Mens Lightweight 1x with Ciaran Scanlon lining up for a heat that doubled as a Homes time trial. Ciaran won his heat with the fastest time of the trialees and was deemed selected. In the final the other scullers found another gear with Ciaran finishing 5th.

Mens Intermediate 2- contained two UCD boats, drawn together in the same heat with two Shandon crews and three to qualify. Unfortunately an equipment issue in one UCD pair ended the race as a contest with the first three paddling safely to the final. There, Enniskillen were impressive winners with UCD taking 5th place.

Andrew Mays joined up with Cian O’Sullivan in the Mens Intermediate 2x. Again the rowing was smooth but they did not progress against more experienced scullers.

Mens Club 2 4+ offered three heats with two to qualify from each, with the high standard that has become the norm in this event. There were two UCD entries, both raced well but ultimately finished 4th in their respective heats and did not progress.

The Mens Novice 8+ was a head-to-head with Queens after Trinity were forced to withdraw due to injury. Both crews raced well with UCD finishing 1st. David Kelly stroked the boat, helping to retain the title that his brother Andrew had claimed a year previous, also in stroke.

By now all focus was aimed towards the Mens Senior 8+, an event that UCD had targeted at the beginning of the season having come very close in two of the preceding three years. The club had three crews in the race and the support was fantastic to behold as UCD B and C applauded UCD A to the water – it was clear that this was one squad approaching the season’s major goal together. The emotion stepped up again at the start line as the roll call reached UCD A in Lane 5, the roar of support from the other College crews marking another special moment for this squad.

Once the flag dropped, all crews charged off the blocks with Commercial, on a run of three consecutive wins in the event, taking one seat. UCD A responded however and were soon carving out a lead of their own. The desire to claim this title was clear as they continued to power away with the commentator reaching for phrases like “on fire” and “blazing” to describe their performance. By 1000m they had half a length of clear water, an unexpected margin in an event often decided by fractions of a second. By now the Shandon/Castleconnell composite had overtaken Commercial and were chasing UCD down. The damage had been done however and College would not be caught, finishing 1st, just over a length ahead of the composite with Commercial two lengths back and closely followed by Trinity. UCD B were just over two lengths back from there with UCD C in 6th.

As fate would have it the Novice 8+ and Senior 8+ were raced within 30 minutes of each other and they found themselves together at the winners slip. Squadmates from the B and C crews raced to get their boats on the racks at the beach and quickly joined them so the celebrations were very much an all-club affair. It was another special moment for the squad and in particular those individuals who had attempted the event several times previously without success.

As season endings go it was a memorable one, congratulations to the winners and well done to each member of the Novice and Senior squads for representing the College with pride and distinction, both on and off the water.

Thanks as always for the amazing effort put in by the coaches. Martin Feeley and Niall Farrell led the Senior squad again, this time with help from Sean Jacob, new to the coaching world but bringing a wealth of rowing experience – not least his 21 Irish Senior titles. For the Novice squad, the welcome return of coaches Barry O’Connor and Mark McShane was vital to retaining the 8+ title. For now it’s a well earned break before plotting the path ahead!

The club and athletes are also very grateful for the support provided by our committees, alumni, UCD Sport, KPMG and Bank of Ireland. Without this foundation the athletes could not perform to the levels they do.

Full results at Rowing Ireland.

Hon College!

 

Crews

Mens Senior 8+ (A, Irish Champions)
Cameron Murphy
Shane O’Connell
Thomas Earley
David Somers
Andrew Goff
Max Murphy (C)
Shane Mulvaney
David O’Malley (Str)
Orlagh Reid (Cox)

Mens Senior 8+ (B)
Rob Brown
Ewan Jarvis
Michael Noonan
Coman O’Connell
Joe Ronaldson
Andrew Kelly
Sam Bolger
Jack Stacey (Str)
Shauna Fitzsimons (Cox)

Mens Senior 8+ (C)
Ciaran Scanlon
Brian Reilly
Fionnan Madden
Tim Burke
Joe Kerins
Mark Doyle
Josh Gargan
Ross Thompson (Str)
Lucy-Anne O’Sullivan (Cox)

Mens Senior 4- (A, Irish Champions)
Shane O’Connell
Andrew Goff
Shane Mulvaney
David O’Malley (Str)

Mens Senior 4- (B)
Thomas Earley
David Somers
Max Murphy (C)
Cameron Murphy (Str)

Mens Lightweight 1x
Ciaran Scanlon

Mens Intermediate 8+ (A)
Rob Brown
Ewan Jarvis
Michael Noonan
Coman O’Connell
Joe Ronaldson
Andrew Kelly
Sam Bolger
Jack Stacey (Str)
Shauna Fitzsimons (Cox)

Mens Intermediate 8+ (B)
Ciaran Scanlon
Brian Reilly
Josh Gargan
Tim Burke
Joe Kerins
Mark Doyle
Cian O’Sullivan
Ross Thompson (Str)
Lucy-Anne O’Sullivan (Cox)

Mens Intermediate 4+
Rob Brown
Jack Stacey
Andrew Kelly
Joe Ronaldson (Str)
Shauna Fitzsimons (Cox)

Mens Intermediate 2x
Andrew Mays
Cian O’Sullivan (Str)

Mens Intermediate 2- (A)
Cian O’Sullivan
Ross Thompson (Str)

Mens Intermediate 2- (B)
Sam Bolger
Ewan Jarvis (Str)

Mens Intermediate 1x
Mark Doyle

Mens Club 2 8+
Ciaran Scanlon
Brian Reilly
Josh Gargan
Tim Burke
Joe Kerins
Andrew Kelly
Cian O’Sullivan
Ewan Jarvis (Str)
Lucy-Anne O’Sullivan (Cox)

Mens Club 2 4+ (A)
Josh Gargan
Tim Burke
Joe Kerins
Jack Stacey (Str)
Lucy-Anne O’Sullivan (Cox)

Mens Club 2 4+ (B)
Luke Whelan
Ryan Hynes
Fionnan Madden
Finnian Shilling (Str)
Ian Jennings (Cox)

Mens Club 2 1x
Andrew Mays

Mens Novice 8+ (Irish Champions)
Seán Nagle
Max Browne
Aamen Mostafa
Sean O’Connor
Kenneth Riordan
Matthew Boyle
Mark O’Meara
David Kelly (Str)
Natalie Roche Griffin (Cox)

Mens Novice 4x+
Sean O’Connor
Matthew Boyle
Kenneth Riordan
David Kelly (Str)
Natalie Roche Griffin (Cox)