After 539 days without any racing due to COVID 7 crews from ERBC have just returned from a very successful National Schools Regatta at Eton Dorney, the venue for the 2012 Olympics rowing event. The Regatta was cancelled last year due to the pandemic so everyone was delighted that the event went ahead this year with strict covid guidelines in place.
There were 3 crews in action on Saturday with the boys winning the Hedsor Cup for the Championship Coxed Four. The crew of Lewis Nixon, Tim Murphy, Charlie Smith, Tom Blake and cox Frankie Reihill. Being back to winning trophies and medals after so long felt wonderful for everyone.
The Girls Championship Coxed Four crew of Nikki Kernaghan, Martha McBrien, Jenny Little, Katie Donnelly and Cox Grace Ralph qualified very comfortably for the A Final where they just missing out on a medal finishing in 4th position in a time of 8.20.65.
Caitlin O’Hare, Aine McCaffrey, Abigail Linton and Niamh Campbell had a great row in their time trial on Saturday morning but unfortunately they missed out on securing a place in the finals.
ERBC had 4 crews taking to the water in Sunday morning’s time trials with 3 of those crews making the B Finals.
The girls J16 4X- crew of Laura Turner, Zoe Elliott, Niamh Cassidy and Chloe Thompson were disappointed to miss out on an A final place after finishing 8th out of 30 crews in the time trial with the six fastest crews progressing. The girls went on to finish in 4th place in the B Final with a time of 07.51.63.
Callum Timoney, Nathan Kelly, Marcus Davis-Kunze and Kyle Abraham J16 4X- were 10th fastest out of 27 crews in the time trial which earned them a place in the B Final finishing in 4th place.
Next it was the turn of the girls J16 8X+ Cristiona McCaffrey, Olivia Jordan, Clodagh O’Donnell, Rachel Cullinan, Sophie Stewart, Eve Courtney, Cathy Fallis, Keeva Corry and Cox Georgia Maxwell had a great row in the time trial securing a B Final spot where they finished 3rd. This was a great race for the girls some of them can complete at this age group again next year.
Sean Tracey and Conor Richardson were unlucky not to reach a final in their Championship pairs event but they gained a lot of experience competing in the Regatta.
The Junior members of the Club will compete at Portadown Regatta, Covid restrictions permitting on Saturday, 19th June. This will be the first experience of racing for many of the younger rowers at the Boat Club.
The next focus for the seniors is Womens Henley Regatta in July and the Henley Royal Regatta and the Irish Rowing Championships in August. After the challenges of the last year it is great to see a return to competition and winning for the rowers of ERBC. All planned events are subject to Covid restrictions.
Mr Holland would like to thank all the coaches and parents who took the rowers to Eton Dorney ensuring that they stayed in their training bubbles and taking all necessary covid precautions to ensure the safety of themselves and the community on their return. He also wishes to extend thanks to Ms Armstrong, Alison Stronge and Fiona Johnston for their support with all the arrangements for the trip.
