Mannix siblings steal the show at Rosscarbery regatta

FOLLOWING the success of last year's event, Rosscarbery Rowing Club once again played host to an exciting Fixed Head event recently at Curraghalicky Lake, Drinagh. 

Rowers from all over Cork, Kerry, Wexford and as far away as Donegal were on the water bright and early on the Saturday morning to take on the two-kilometre four-turn course. 

To kickstart the event, 14 men took to the water to compete in the men’s singles race in glorious sunshine and flat conditions. The first win of the day went to Kealan Mannix of Rosscarbery Rowing Club with a course record time of 8.52. Noel Creedon of Ring Rowing Club rowed superbly to take a great second place with a time of 9.20 while Andrew Hurley of Bantry Bay Rowing Club came third, just 0.5 of a second behind. 

The next race of the day saw the women take to the water in the women’s singles race, as conditions began to change with a rising easterly breeze. Rosscarbery’s Alyssa Mannix took first place with a solid time of 10.33. Very close behind and taking second place with a time of 10.35 was Miriam Sheehan of Castletownbere Rowing Club. Niamh Hayes of Galley Flash Rowing Club came in third with a time of 10.51. 

The men’s doubles followed with Passage West Rowing Club taking the honours with a time of 9.04. Second place went to Ring Rowing Club (9.19) while Bantry Bay Rowing Club earned bronze (9.37).

The Ring Junior 18 double gets ready to race at the recent regatta on Curraghalicky Lake, Drinagh.

Next was the women’s doubles race. The strong pairing of Ella Cialis and Eimear Walsh saw Castletownshend won well with Donegal club Kincasslagh in second place while third place went to Kilmacsimon. 

This year saw the introduction of junior doubles events, and junior crews from Bantry, Ring, Kilmacsimon, Portmagee, Workmans and Rosscarbery took part. By the time these junior crews took to the water conditions had become challenging but all crews navigated the course very well. 

The junior women’s double event saw Bantry dominate the race and take first, second and third positions. Following on from this was the junior men’s double race with Ring Rowing Club securing first place with Kilmacsimon in second place and Bantry Bay Rowing Club in third place.  

This Bantry Junior 18 women's crew in action at the recent regatta.

The highly-competitive mixed double category came next with Rosscarbery siblings Kealan and Alyssa Mannix rowing to the top spot followed closely by the always competitive David Hussey and Natasha Howard of Portmagee, while the Kilmacsimon crew of Niamh Lordan and Davin Jennings rowed to a solid third; keep an eye on this crew for the future. 

The event ended with the junior mixed double where the impressive Kate Verling teamed up with Ring club-mate Charlie Stirling to win this category followed by the Rosscarbery crew of Grace Hurley and Finnian Mannix and in a close third, Crista Tan and Conor Hinnell of Bantry.